


Antiques

by usaginoona



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Chabean, M/M, Nbin, i dunno, kpop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-15 13:38:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3449153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usaginoona/pseuds/usaginoona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hongbin is a human in a fairytale world, and when an elf named Hakyeon decides to barge into his relatively simple life, bringing all of his friends with him, Hongbin found himself wishing he was anything but.<br/>(cross-posted from AFF)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Closing Time

            “Hongbin-ah, can you finish wiping the counters? I’m almost done in the back,” Hyuna called, her voice fading out as she descended the stairs into the basement.

            The boy at the front counter grumbled. “There isn’t much counter to wipe, seeing as how all of it is covered in junk.” The antique store that they both worked in was a mess, as it always was. Pieces of collections were stacked on top of each other next to shelves that could very well hold them, if they were also not haphazardly disorganized. The whole place was filled with items, from old and dusty books to dolls that Hongbin would swear were haunted. The counter in question had little boxes full of rings and pins in them, in no sort of order at all but still somehow perfectly in harmony with the rest of the store. The warm lighting and quiet atmosphere added to the ambiance of the store and the smell of pastries wafted through the walls from the bakery next door.

            Just as Hongbin was sweeping the remaining mess on the counter into his hands and into the trash bin, the bell above the door jingled, and Hongbin rolled his eyes. Every day, exactly ten minutes before closing, he would show up. Just show up, wander around for a while, then come and talk at Hongbin as he tried to finish his tasks for the end of the day. He had yet to buy anything, and Hongbin pondered on if it would be rude to kick him out, maybe accusing him of loitering. The old boss wouldn’t stand for it, however, so he had to bear with it until the lights of the store would flicker off and the guest would finally leave.

            Today was no different, it seems. The elf moved silently and surprisingly gracefully against his entirely too loud personality. Not for the first time, Hongbin wondered who had decided to put that disposition into an elf, of all creatures. Maybe he could be a fairy, or an imp, some sort of troublesome creature so then Hongbin really would have a cause to throw him out.

            “Helllooo, Hongbin? Ground control to Hongbin, over.”

            Ah, there he was.

            “Good afternoon, Hakyeon.” Hongbin turned around to face him. Hakyeon was smiling at him, teeth bright on a tanned face.

            “Your hair is a different color again today.”

            “You noticed! I like the red much more than the blue, don’t you? Taekwoon says that it’s too loud and annoying but I think it’s perfect.” Hongbin bit back a comment about the hair not being the annoying part, and just nodded.

            “It certainly has flair.” He paused. “Wait, did you say Taekwoon? As in the Taekwoon who works at the bakery next door?”

            “That’s him!” came a cheerful reply. Taekwoon was well known in the area for his baked goodies, but no one knew much about him, he rarely was out in the main front of the store. Those who had seen him said he was “dark and mysterious.”

            “You know him?” Hongbin directed at the elf, turning away to continue gathering up pieces of trash. Hongbin hated to admit it, but he was curious about him.

            “I sure do, he’s my best friend, we’ve known each other for yeaaaars.” Hakyeon leaned over on the counter. “Why, are you curious?”

            “A little bit, yeah. I mean, no one really ever sees him around here, he doesn’t come out into public very often. I’ve worked here for two years now and I still haven’t seen him once.”

            Hakyeon hummed.

            “He probably doesn’t want you to, then.”

            As Hongbin was about to pressure him more about the mystery pastry chef, there was a loud crash outside the store, approximately exactly where the flowerpots were. Loud swearing could be heard, and Hongbin hoped to whatever gods were out there that the source was not planning on coming into the store, there were only 6 minutes left until he could justifiably tell the elf standing in front of him (politely) to leave.

            The bell on the door chimed, and Hongbin groaned.

            It was going to be a long 6 minutes.

           

            The door burst open and a cheery voice rang out through the room.

            “Helloooo, who’s in here?”

            Hakyeon looked up.

            “Jaehwan, is that you? What are you doing here?” The owner of the voice emerged and Hongbin let out a sigh.

            Of course it had to be a fairy.

            Fairies are a fickle type, constantly moving, almost always radiating positivity and light, often just generally annoying. This particular fairy was grinning ear from ear. He had a high, defined nose and a sharp jaw, a sharp contrast to the smoother edges the Hakyeon had, typical of fairies and elves respectively. The fairy’s hair was a light brown-blonde color, and his eyes were big and light. His wings were tucked up against his back, shimmering with a small light that glittered when he moved. The wings were thin and colorful, less for practical reasons and more just for the appearance.

            “Hakyeon! Imagine seeing you here! I just moved in upstairs so I was going to come downstairs and say hello to whoever else lives in the building, and I fell out of my window outside, and decided I might as well come in. What are you doing here?” Hongbin immediately decided that he truly did not want this Jaehwan character lingering in the store any longer than was needed, his light, folded wings already coming close to brushing some of the fragile stacks of items.

            “-and I was just talking to Hongbin, ah, he works here, about Taekwoon! You remember Taekwoon, yeah? He’s working just next door and since I come here all the time maybe I’ll try to convince him to-“

            “Excuse me, but the store is closing, and I’ll need to ask you to leave. We reopen tomorrow at 10am, when we will be happy to assist you.” The speech was practiced, he said it every day to Hakyeon promptly at 6 o clock.

            “Jaehwannie, we should grab some dinner, I haven’t seen you in forever! I know a good place- thanks Hongbin, see you tomorrow! - and they have some of the best casserole I’ve ever had.” The chatter continued through and then out of the store, and Hongbin sighed.

            Living in Talgi had both benefits and consequences, one being the existence of the various mythical creatures that lived in and surrounding the city. From fairies to centaurs, there was plenty of diversity. Humans were less common, but there weren’t any problems between the humans and the other inhabitants, aside from small skirmishes. Hongbin had grown up outside of the city, only moving when his mother told him to, word by word, “find something to do with your life because I don’t want your lazy ass on my couch until you are 21, Hongbin.” So he had moved into a small one bedroom apartment, and then begun work at the antique store.

            He never figured much of the creatures, not avoiding them but never really interacting with them. Most of the (few, albeit) friends that he had were human. Even the visitors to the store were generally human, with the occasional elf, sometimes a nymph. Hongbin liked the nymphs, they were pretty and usually kind, despite sometimes causing some trouble. They always cooed over him, talking over themselves about how he “should get out more often” and that they “have friends that they could introduce him to.” He supposed it was simply because of his looks, seeing as they never had any real conversations.

            Hongbin had always thought of himself as pretty average, not anything special, but if you asked some of the customers (usually the female variety) they would tell you about a charming smile with dimples, hair that just covered his forehead and then some of them would lower their voices and talk about some other feature of his. He usually just tuned them out, smiling at telling them to have a nice day.

            Until about a month ago, when, ten minutes before closing, Hakyeon showed up. He was tan for an elf, but seemed to have captured some sort of sunlight because he had a sort of glow around him, although Hongbin could never quite be sure. When they first met, his hair was dark brown, slightly curling, falling just over his eyebrows. Since then, it had been black, and then blue, and now to a bright shade of red, which Hongbin supposed fit him rather well. He wasn’t really loud in volume, but had a lot to say and only ten minutes to say all of it. Hakyeon never seemed to run out of things to say, but some part of Hongbin didn’t really mind, seeing as the last ten minutes of work were always the slowest, using his time just straightening the same things over and over to give the appearance of working. Hakyeon certainly wasn’t boring.

            And now, it appears, Hongbin’s life was about to get a lot more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uwaaaaah this chapter is really short I'm just trying to figure out the basics of the story soooo  
> yeah Hakyeon is an elf and Jaehwan is a fairy and they are both annoying  
> Thanks for reading  
> ~Win


	2. Not Again

“Have a good evening, thanks for your work today!”

            “You too, Hyuna. I’ll see you tomorrow!” Hongbin turned to walk away down the street towards his apartment before Hyuna called out to him.

            “Oh hey, your little elf friend, what’s his name? He seems nice, maybe you should try to socialize for once, maybe make some friends.”

            Hongbin rolled his eyes.

            “Thanks for the advice,” he intoned, and waved goodbye. The walk to his apartment wasn’t long, maybe fifteen minutes or so, and it was nice enough outside that he was comfortable in his light jacket. There was a park to his left, and there were parents herding their children into groups to go home, fussing about coats and messy hair. He was hungry, Hongbin realized, feeling his stomach rumble around. He hadn’t eaten a lot for lunch, choosing instead to doodle in his little notebook he carried with him, it was never anything big or elaborate, just little sketches of various subjects. He decided to stop by a small shop on his way home, one that he frequented. The owners knew him, and were always ready to get his order of kimbap started. Today was no different. Hongbin waved at the man at the counter, and went to take his regular seat in the back corner next to the window.

            As he sat there, waiting for his food, he overheard a gruff voice arguing with someone. Turning his head, he saw a satyr sitting a few tables over, leaning on his elbows with his phone between his ear and shoulder, shoveling food into his mouth as, apparently, he tried to have a heated conversation with someone.

            “I swear it’ll look good I promise I know,” he paused, chewing. “What I’m doing. You’re one to talk about ridiculous hair colors so you hav-“ The satyr stopped, apparently listening to the voice over the phone.

            “Orange will look great, it’s not like you- Yes!!! I’m not cutting it all off, im just dying it! What shade? Bright orange. Yahh, don’t yell like that, my ears are delicate! I have to listen to your screeching enough wh- you’re insufferable! I’m dying my hair orange, Hakyeon, and there’s no stopping me!” The satyr huffed and threw down his phone. He had neglected to hang up, however, so there was a tinny voice still coming from the phone. He rolled his eyes and tapped on the screen to end the call.

            He looked over to see Hongbin watching him, and loosely grinned.

            “Sorry about that, you know how elves can be.”

            Hongbin sighed. Today was just full of surprises, awesome.

            “Did you say Hakyeon?”

            The satyr blinked at his question.

            “Yeah, he’s my friend, why?”

            Hongbin dropped his head into his hands.

            “Nothing, nevermind.”

            He was too late in his neverminds though, and the table shifted as the half-goat half-tall, rough faced man with round yellow eyes sat down at Hongbin’s table.

            “Do you know Hakyeon?”

            Hongbin wondered what would happen if he just said no, got up and left. His mouth was not as thoughtful, however.

            “Yeah, he comes into the store I work at all the time and bothers me.”

            The satyr grinned.

            “What a coincidence! Yeah, me and Hakyeon go way back. I’m Wonshik, by the way.”

            Hongbin nodded. After a few awkward moments, he remembered that he was also supposed to introduce himself.

            “Lee Hongbin.”

           

            Wonshik ended up staying at Hongbin’s table while he ate, something that Hongbin grudgingly accepted, his want for food overriding his want to tell Wonshik to leave him alone. The satyr was definitely less talkative than some of the other creatures that Hongbin had met up to this point, something he appreciated while he ate.

            When Wonshik’s phone rang again, he looked at the caller and leaned back in his chair.

            “It’s Hakyeon, isn’t it?” Hongbin asked.

            “Yep.”

            “You might as well answer.”

            Wonshik eyed him and nodded, accepting the call.

            “Yah, Hakyeon-ah, I’m eatin-“ he held the phone away from his ear, rolling his eyes.

            “I told you not to yell at me over the pho- Hakyeon! Shut up about my hair oh my gods it’s not even- I can just dye it a different color if I don’t like it- No, it won’t wreck my hair, I know what I’m doing, I swear you’re such a hypocrite sometimes I-“ He paused, rolling his eyes.

            “Well since I’m ignoring you anyways, I thought I would tell you I ran into that guy you’ve been bothering at the antique store for weeks he- What? No, I didn’t follow him, I’m not a stalker unlike you who- No I didn’t invite myself over, you were arguing with me and he overheard you and agreed with me about you being annoying. Eh? Yeah, whatever, I made that up. It’s true anyways. No, I’m not goin- Hakyeon I swear I’m hanging up on you if you keep yelling at me. I can’t even understand what you’re saying, you are talking way too fast. How does your mouth even move that-“ Wonshik stopped again, glaring at a spot on the table.

            “Okay, I’m being rude to Hongbin at this point, what was it you were even calling me about because if it was my hair I’m hanging up right now.”

            Hongbin could hear the voice on the phone quiet and slow down. Wonshik’s eyes widened, and then he mouthed, “I have to go” at Hongbin, who nodded and watched him leave.

            The day just kept getting weirder and weirder, and Hongbin idly wondered if he would even make it home in one piece. He’d met a fairy and a satyr today, when most days he went without meeting a single creature. And the conversation that Wonshik had been having with Hakyeon- he didn’t even want to think about how everything seemed to be happening because of Hakyeon, not yet- and what it meant. Aside from the hair part, coloring his curly pale hair, apparently bright orange, the end of the conversation seemed… odd and out of place. And then him having to leave so fast. Hongbin sighed and left a tip on his table, standing.

            He stepped outside, and yet again set out to get to his apartment, stomach now satisfied. As he moved to check the time on his phone and check his messages, he heard someone approach and then he felt an arm sling around and onto his shoulders. Startled, he jerked in the opposite direction, turning to face whoever, or whatever, was the reason.

            “Shh, just turn around and keep walking, we’re friends, okay? Just play along for a little while.” The voice belonged to a boy about as tall as Hongbin, with a baseball hat on and shades, grinning at him with… Hongbin stared at what appeared to be fangs poking out through his lips.

            “Do what?”

            “They’re right behind me, and I figure that if I look like I was already here they won’t be able to figure me out just yet. I’m Sanghyuk, by the way, and I’m running from some kids who decided to get in my way, so I scared them a little bit and then they chased after me, so just pretend for me for a little bit.” He laughed, pointedly shifting his head to the side. Hongbin followed his gaze, to see a group of three boys running towards them. Upon seeing Hongbin, Sanghyuk close by, they turned and ran off in another direction, talking excitedly about vampires and other spooks. He turned back, and shook his shoulders, dislodging the arm still resting there. Sanghyuk, still grinning, nodded to him.

            “Hey, thanks for that! I’m already running late to meet my friend, elves can be very impatient and Hakyeon is the least patient one I’ve met yet.”

            Hongbin stopped altogether, yet again considering just leaving. Maybe if he left, he could just get home and watch a movie and then sleep until his shift at the store tomorrow. He brought his hands up to his face, pushing them into his temples. He faced his options. He could leave, and pretend none of it happened, or he could stop and confront this Sanghyuk boy. His mouth went ahead of his brain, making his decision for him.

            “You know Hakyeon?”

            “Yeah, I live right by him and he’s known me since I was a kid. Why? Do you know him? What a weird coincidence! He’s always meeting new people, I swear. He’s already practically adopted me, and even convinced Taekwoon to be his friend. And no one is friends with Taekwoon.”

            Hongbin’s head hurt. That’s three new creatures that he’s met, just in the last two hours. He hesitated for a second.

            “I know him. He bothers me at work every day. Did those kids say something about a vampire?”

            Sanghyuk nodded.

            “Believe it or not, that’s me! Blahhhh,” he laughed, poking his tongue out between his teeth.

            Hongbin sighed.

            “You’re not aiming to suck my blood, are you?”

            “Nope, not today. You helped me out, after all, and I pride myself on being a pretty good guy, for a vampire at least. Where do you work? Maybe I’ll come visit too, you seem interesting. Not many people don’t freak out when someone runs into them, and then reveals being a vampire.”

            “To be fair, you don’t seem like much of a vampire.”

            Sanhyuk groaned.

            “I swear, hundred percent vampire. People always tell me that though. Should I act more vampire-like, maybe dress in all black and wear a cloak? It’s not like I’m crazy or anything.” He turned to face Hongbin, eyes just barely visible through the dark shades, face in shadow under the hat.

            “I gotta run, but thanks again for helping me, um,” he trailed off.

            Not for the first time today, Hongbin remembered the basics of interaction.

            “Lee Hongbin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe another short chapter sorry they will probably all be around this length it helps me separate my thinking  
> so now we've (almost) met everyone  
> wonshik is a satyr, and sanghyuk is a sassy shitty vampire  
> thanks for reading!


	3. Look What You've Gotten Yourself Into

Sanghyuk turned to leave, but as he was taking a step he spun back to face Hongbin.

            “Hey, maybe you could just come with me! I’ll ask Hakyeon but I’m sure he won’t mind, since he knows you too. There’ll probably be a couple other people there too, there are what, five of us? That are usually together, so if you want you can just follow along, it’s only a short ways from here.”

            Hongbin told himself that he should just leave now, not get involved, that whatever was going on should have nothing to do with him, and that he should go. He told himself that even as he nodded his head at Sanghyuk.

            “I might as well.”

 

            Sanghyuk was very chatty, constantly commenting on their surroundings and reminding himself of things that were funny and then telling Hongbin about them, laughing so hard that he almost fell into traffic more than once. This must be why Hakyeon gets along with this kid, Hongbin thought, watching as Sanghyuk animatedly talked about something, a cat? Something. They were getting further and further away from Hongbin’s apartment, and at this point he had just decided to let chance take him wherever he was going. He knew his way around the city for the most part, but Sanghyuk was leading him into an area that Hongbin was less familiar with. This neighborhood was inhabited mostly by elves, which would explain Hongbin not having been there much. Being populated by elves meant that the space was full of life and energy, and that everything was definitely more beautiful than anything that the humans built.

            Just walking down the center road, Hongbin could turn his head and see what looked like trees shaped into halls and buildings, benches carved from pale wood and embellished with curls and patterns. He saw shimmering fabrics on the passerby, and in the windows of some of the shops. Everything was colorful, but at the same time very natural. The elves were almost as fascinating as the atmosphere, if not more. They walked in a way that was more like a cross between a strut and a glide, moving through space fluidly. There were children weaving their way through legs, never running into anyone, just laughing and spinning through the crowd. Most of the elves he saw had longer, pale hair, although some had shorter and darker hair, and some had beautiful colors and designs. The voices around him were mingling together, but the volume was steady, each voice distinguishable from the rest.

            It really was very interesting, and Hongbin didn’t even notice that Sanghyuk had stopped talking, and it took him more time to notice that he had also stopped walking, and was looking at Hongbin with an amused expression.

            “Yo, dreamer boy, we’re here.”

            Protests formed themselves on Hongbin’s lips but had no chance to fall before the door to the house they had stopped before burst open in a shower of glitter and arms had grabbed at Sanghyuk.

            “Hyukkie, we’ve been waiting on you, where have you been, oh nevermind, just come in, come in.” Hongbin should have been expecting who would be there, but hearing Jaehwan’s voice still surprised him.

            “Oh, is that Hongbin? The guy from the antique store? Yah, Hakyeon, the boy from…” Jaehwan was turning back into the building and his voice trailed off. Sanghyuk turned to Hongbin.

            “Hey, you’ve already met Jaehwan? When? Maybe you know some of the others, too.”

            Hongbin just shrugged his shoulders. It’s not like he went out of his way to meet any of them, they just all had shown up in his path and he had been too dumb to move out of the way. He let Sanghyuk lead him into the building, down a hall lined with pictures that Hongbin tried to look at, only catching glimpses of smiling faces and pointed ears before being dragged onwards. The deeper that they got into the house the more unfamiliar it became, the floor turning soft and earthy, walls losing the sharp lines and the lights turning more into lanterns that cast warm shadows every which way. Jaehwan’s voice came back into hearing.

            “Anyways, Hakyeon, like I was saying- Oh, Hongbin, come on back, here, there’s probably a seat somewhere just make yourself comfortable- Like I was saying, you should have seen the look on his face when I fell out of the window, he looked so surprised! Speaking of falling out of windows, I’ll get some new flowers for your store, Hongbin, sorry about breaking them.”

            Hongbin just nodded, still taking in his surroundings. The room he was in was big, with a high, airy ceiling with several windows spaced throughout, all set into the same wood that was on the walls. He felt like he was inside a tree, like if he looked outside he would be on top of the clouds. So he pointedly decided to not look outside. There was a table in the center of the room that he supposed was a dining table, even though it was covered with all kinds of things that were decisively not for eating. There were books, and papers, the occasional mug or cup, and a pot of flowers that was miraculously untouched by the clutter surrounding it. There were three chairs sitting around the table, two already taken up. The other chair was across the room, over by a wall of paintings, next to a couch and armchair. Was that a piano? Hongbin was pretty sure that there was a piano in the corner, but there was a curtain of vines falling so he couldn’t see clearly from where he was. The other side of the room was a kitchen area that was cleaner than the rest of the room, which Hongbin briefly considered before moving on. There was a hall leading down next to the kitchen, and- how big is this place? It certainly didn’t look this big from the outside. He could see at least two doors set into the hall. Having considered his initial sweep of where he was, he directed his attention back to the inhabitants of the room.

            Of course, as luck would have it, he recognized all of them.

            Wonshik was sitting backwards in one of the chairs by the table, grinning at Hongbin. Jaehwan was sitting on the edge of the couch, looking like he was about to fall off every time he moved. Sanghyuk had left Hongbin and had slouched into the armchair, taking off his hat and glasses, running his hand through his short purple hair before smoothing it back down, blinking to get used to the light change and Hakyeon was sitting in the other chair at the table, with a cat curled up in his lap that he would pet every so often.

            Hakyeon smiled at Hongbin in the same way that he did every day ten minutes before the store closed.

            “Hello, Hongbin! I see you ran into Sanghyuk on his way here, did he drag you into this? He’s such a brat sometimes, I bet he was rude, and harassed you into coming here with him-“ His sentence cut off as he dodged a clump of dirt thrown very accurately across the room from where Sanghyuk was reclining.

            “Yah, Hakyeon, it’s rude to talk behind someone’s back.”

            “It’s not behind your back, you’re facing me, and it’s Hakyeon- _hyung_  to you, kiddo.” A grumble was the only response, and Hakyeon tsked in his direction and turned back to Hongbin.

            “I ran into him earlier too, when you were bitching about my hair.” Wonshik piped up from his chair. “He said that you were very rude, and inconsiderate, to bother someone so much about their appearance and life choices.”

            This time the clump of dirt came from Hakyeon’s direction.

            “He did no such thing, you dirty liar. Stop being rude.”

            “I bet he was thinking it. You were, weren’t you, Hongbin? How someone shouldn’t be so fussy about the decisions someone else makes that doesn’t even involve him.” Hongbin didn’t reply, choosing to neither agree nor disagree.

            “See! He’s not saying no, he definitely did.”

            “Hongbin! You didn’t did you? You would probably worry the same about someone, right? I mean, what if I decided to dye my hair such an atrocious color? I’d hope someone would care enough about me to tell me not to make dumb decisions.” Hakyeon directed the last sentence clearly at Wonshik, who huffed and ignored him.

            Hongbin realized that at some point he was supposed to have said something, but it didn’t seem to matter anyways, because Hakyeon just patted at the empty seat next to him.

            “Why don’t you come sit down?”     

            

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just really like writing dialog im so sorry there is so much of it its just fun lET ME KNOW
> 
> matter of opinion, i'm not sure if i want to turn this into a shippy thing? like i kinda feel like im setting it up to be chabean but i literally have no full concept of the story im just making it up as i go along haha  
> idk yet though  
> would that be weird? i dunno  
> i'll try to keep updating pretty regularly, hopefully every couple days? nice thing about short chapters is that i can get them to you quicker  
> anyways!  
> thanks for reading  
> ~Win


	4. A Long Day

Hongbin dropped into the offered seat, exhaling. Hakyeon was still smiling at him.

            “You must be wondering why we are all here.”

            “Well not really, actually, at this point I’ve decided to not think too hard about any of this.” Hongbin was tired of his brain disagreeing with everything else he was doing, so he choose to instead just give in to whatever was happening. From across the room, Sanghyuk snickered.

            “Wow, Hakyeon, I bet you wanted to sound all dramatic and cool and this kid doesn’t even care.”

            “He’s older than you, and so am I, so use some respect when talking to your elders!”

            This time Wonshik was the one who laughed. He looked at Hongbin.

            “This happens every time we get together, so be prepared to hear a lot more of it.”

            “This does not happen every time, it’s just whenever Sanghyuk comes and decides to be a little brat like he usually does.” Hakyeon pointedly avoided looking at Sanghyuk, who faked an offended look.

            “Oh, sorry, Hakyeon-hyung, I’ll make sure to be on my utmost behavior for our guest who has no idea why he’s here and to whom you have yet to tell anything about anything.”

            “I was getting to it, Sanghyuk, before you butted in and interrupted me.” Sanghyuk did not reply, choosing instead to roll his eyes.

            “Anyways, Hongbin, you obviously know everyone here, so I don’t need to do introductions. I should probably explain how everyone got to be here.” Hakyeon turned back to Hongbin, disturbing the cat in his lap who jumped off and wandered over to the couch near Jaehwan, avoiding the fairy’s attempts to pet it. Jaehwan pouted. Hongbin realized that Hakyeon was talking and tuned back in.

            “-honored to call these losers friends. Wonshik lives nearby, and I ran into him when he ran into me at a market, knocking all of these nice fruits out of my hands and stepping all over my nice shoes, and then not even apologizing to me until after he had forgotten to help me up and didn’t even offer to pick up-“

            Wonshik interrupted him.

            “Do you have nothing nice to say about me? It wasn’t that bad, I just stumbled into you and you didn’t even drop all of what you were carrying, and it’s not like anything was damaged. I swear you don’t even appreciate the little things.”

            Hakyeon glared at him.

            “Anyways, then after he finally apologized he asked me why I was buying so many apples and I told him Taekwoon was making apple pie and needed more. Goat-boy here looked so excited about the prospect of pie that I hadn’t even offered yet, so I relented and told him he could try some.

            “So then he hovered around the bakery until the pie was finished, and then we actually had a conversation and I realized he wasn’t as much of a jerk as he looked like-“

            “Hey!”

            “-and then the next day he was back and after that he kept coming around until at some point we became friends.” Hakyeon finished with a grin.

            “Okay, that’s not how it happened at all, you were so bothersome and you kept asking me to come back and stay longer.” Wonshik pointed at him accusingly.

            “Don’t listen to him, as you may have already noticed he’s a rotten liar.” Ignoring the glare that was shot at him from across the table, Hakyeon pointed at Jaehwan.

            “Jaehwan I met when I was out looking for new pillows. He pointed out one of the ugliest pillows that I had ever seen-“

            “And to this day you continue to judge me for my choice in pillows. I’m never discussing interior decorating with you ever.” Jaehwan shot at him, falling back onto the couch, startling the cat.

            “I told him that it was hideous and he followed me around the store defending his pillow preferences, and then as I was checking out he was complaining about being hungry so I told him that he could come to the bakery and eat there, and then basically the same thing happened that had happened with Wonshik.

            “I hadn’t seen him in a while because he moved, but then as you know we ran into each other again today!”

            “And now I get to visit you at work too, Hongbin-ah!” Jaehwan grinned at him. Hongbin restrained from telling him that he didn’t want any more bothersome creatures hanging out at his peaceful workplace.

            “And then I met Sanghyuk one night-“

            “Hakyeon if you tell the same story you always do-“

            “he was sitting on the street outside my door and he was crying about-“

            “Don’t do it I swear to god.”

`           “Some girl or something, and I felt bad for him so I let him come inside, he dripped water everywhere and messed up my kitchen, it was a disaster and then he-“

            “Stop it.”

            “He was still crying so I made him tea and then I figured out he was a vampire and almost ran him out of the house, you know how elves and vampires get along, but he just looked so sad-“

            “He’s lying, all of this is made up.”

            “That I let him stay, and he fell asleep on my couch and I decided that someone needed to take care of such a ill-mannered kid so I unofficially decided that I be that someone-“

            “I’m not a child, I’m an adult, you always do this-“

            “And so he moved in down the hall and has lived here ever since!” Hakyeon finished. Sanghyuk groaned.

            “You always make me sound so pathetic, I was very manly, not at all like how this jerk is describing me.”

            Hongbin just nodded, unsure of what else to do.

            “So that’s how I met them!”

            Hongbin finally asked what he was curious about.

            “And what about Taekwoon?”

            A low voice sounded from the other side of the room.

            “What about me?”

            The voice startled Hongbin, because there was no one else in the room who could be talking, and he didn’t recognize the voice. He turned in the direction that the voice came from, and quickly turned back.

            Where the cat had been lounging on the couch was now a pale, dark haired man with very feline features. However, there was now no sign of the cat.

            “Hakyeon, you weren’t even going to introduce me? I’m offended.”

            Hakyeon laughed.

            “I didn’t know if you wanted to be introduced or not, you’re always so picky about those kinds of things. Last time I told someone you almost bit my finger off and I think you even left scars.”

            “I did no such thing.” The man on the couch, Taekwoon? Hongbin decided that it was probably Taekwoon, rose and crossed the room.

            “You did so.”

            He reached the table and stood in front of Hongbin, who was still trying to catch up. It must have been evident on his face, because Hakyeon started laughing and Wonshik snickered.

            “Hyung, you probably could have done that better, the poor kid is already probably overwhelmed as it is.”

            Hongbin looked up at him.

            “So… the cat… is?” He trailed off.

            “Is me, I’m the cat. I’m Taekwoon.”

            “So you’re a…”

            “He’s a werecat! Kind of. He can control it, so more like a shapeshifter who can only do cats.” Hakyeon piped up from behind. Taekwoon turned back to him and nudged Hakyeon until he moved over in the chair so that he could sit there as well.

             Hongbin took inventory. An elf, a fairy, a satyr, a vampire, and now a cat shapeshifter.

            “Are there any more surprises I should be aware of? I’ve had a pretty long day.”

            Sanghyuk laughed from his chair across the room.

            “Nope, that should be about all for now.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little bit shorter than the others? kind of? maybe it just feels shorter to me idk  
> thanks for reading!  
> ~Win


	5. Leave it to an Elf

****

“Taekwoon I met when I was just a kid. How old were we, eight? Nine? I can’t remember exactly.”

            “Nine.”

            “Ah, thanks Taekwoonie. Anyways, there was this park that I used to go to every day after school with my friends, and one day we saw these kids being mean to this little black cat, aaah, you were so cute back then, why can’t you be so cute again?”

            “Back to the story, Hakyeon.”

            “I decided to go over and stop them, and when I got closer they ran off laughing. You should have heard the noise he first made when I picked him up, it was adorable. My friends told me that we should go, it was getting late and it wasn’t good to go around picking up strange animals, so I pet him and left.

            “The next day when we came back he was waiting by the swings, which were my favorite. I thought to myself, what a friendly cat.”

            Taekwoon huffed at this. Hakyeon just grinned at him.

            “Eventually he was waiting for me by the swings every day, until about a week and a half later he just followed me home. So I kept him!

            “It wasn’t until, what, a year later? That he finally let me know that he was a shapeshifter. It was really startling actually. I came home from school one day and no cat! Instead Taekwoon was sitting cross-legged on my bed. I almost had a heart attack.”

            “He even let out a shriek.”

            “I did not! And I’d like to see you not be surprised when your so-called pet turns into a human.” Hakyeon jabbed him in the side.

            “Anyways, that’s how we met. And we’ve been friends ever since! When I finally moved into this place, he came with me and lives just down the hall.”

            Hongbin wondered exactly how big this house really was. He had heard of elven houses being deceptive in appearance but since he had never been in one he wouldn’t know.

            Taekwoon spoke.

            “I started working at the bakery just after it opened, because Hakyeon kept pestering me to stop being a “lazy asshole of a cat” and do something. Even though now all he does is hang around me when I work and talk incessantly about nothing in particular. And then ten minutes to six he leaves and-“

            “And comes over to talk incessantly about nothing in particular to me,” Hongbin finished.

            Hakyeon pouted.

            “You guys make me seem like such an annoyance.”

            “Well to be fair-“ Taekwoon started.

            “I mean-“ Hongbin began at the same time.

            Sanghyuk started laughing from across the room. Hakyeon dramatically sighed.

            “Well, whatever. I know you get lonely without me, it’s not like you ever even leave the back kitchen of the bakery, Taekwoon.

            “So that’s how I found all of them, and then blah blah blah, they all met, friendship ensued, etc.”

            Hongbin sat for a moment, filing through what he’d been told. Hakyeon continued.

            “And now, by some chance fate, you’ve joined us!” Hongbin swallowed back his protest of not having willingly joined anything, and nodded. He also didn’t add that he didn’t put much stock in fate. A lot of the creatures believed in some sort of fate or other power, but he’d never really understood any of it. Whatever happened, happened. But then again, magic was a thing, so maybe something else really did hold some sort of sway. Hongbin decided to stop thinking about it.

            “Hey, do you think you could direct me to the bathroom?” He directed at Hakyeon, who was making faces at Sanghyuk, who was making faces back. Taekwoon was the one who answered, though.

            “Down the hall, second door on your right.” Hongbin thanked him and got up, walking by a sleeping Wonshik. How could he even be comfortable? His face was pressed against the chair, which didn’t look very pleasant. But Hongbin just kept going. Past the clean kitchen, which he now figured was because of Taekwoon being in control of that domain, Hakyeon didn’t seem like much of a cook. He turned down the hall, counting doors. All of the doors looked slightly different, made of a different wood or in a different pattern, kind of like the whole house, where nothing really matched but everything fit together. Hongbin attributed that aspect of the house to Hakyeon. Reaching the second door, he stepped into a stone- stone? A stone-walled bathroom, with what looked like natural walls carved straight out of a rock. It was bigger than he thought. Everything so far has been bigger than he thought, so he just finished what he had come to do, and after messing with and figuring out how the wide, tilted sink worked, he exited back out into the hall.

            And realized that he couldn’t tell which way he had come from.

            He hadn’t really paid attention while he walked, so he didn’t recognize the immediate surroundings. There was a door in front of him, and one on either side. The hallway wasn’t dark by any means, but the lighting was less clear and bright than Hongbin was used to. It added an air of unknown things, things that he couldn’t quite pin down.

            Leave it to an elf.

            He sighed. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to explore a little bit? He was sure Hakyeon wouldn't mind.

            He opened the door straight in front of him across the hall. The door was smooth, and the handle turned easily. The room was dark, but he could make out the shape of a bed with unmade covers, and a chest at the foot. There was a painting on the wall, of what Hongbin couldn’t quite tell. On second viewing, the floor was covering with things ranging from books, to clothes, to dishes. If he had to take a guess, Hongbin would say that it was Sanghyuk’s room.

            Backing out, he turned to the left. There was one door on the side of the hall, and one door set straight into the end of the hall. So Hongbin wasn’t completely lost, after all, he could just turn in the opposite direction. He went to the next door, easing it open. This room was chilly but not cold, and had a light on a desk on the far side of the room. There was a smaller bed against one wall, and then a structure that looped around the room that looked like- oh, it was a cat walkway. There was a little bed on the top of one of the corner posts, and a collection of little toys around it. So this is Taekwoon’s room. It was kept pretty clean, with some papers out on the desk and a jacket slung over the chair. Hongbin would guess that the cabinets along the wall were just as organized. There was a big window, looking out over what was definitely not part of the city.

            Leave it to an elf.

            The window was overlooking a little fenced garden, with variations of flowers and a couple of vegetable plants. Looking further out, there was a row of trees a ways away, which was probably an orchard. The window was open, and there was a barely noticeable breeze swaying the curtains. It was a nice room, all in all, and Hongbin could definitely see Taekwoon in it.

            The last door in this end of the hall opened into another bedroom, this one was warm and well lit, with a lamp in the corner and a dome light in the middle on the ceiling. The bed was in the center of the far wall, with lots of pillows. The bedside table had a book open spine-up, and Hongbin had to resist going over and fixing it. There was a bookshelf on the other side of the bed against the wall, next to a large window with a little alcove, with more pillows and blankets. This overlooked a little creek that Hongbin could hear through the open window.

            “What do you think?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> too much describing? i hope not omg
> 
> i'm worried about writing taekwoon omg i hope i get his character right? PLEASE if you think its off let me know!  
> i'm still kind of hashing out the actual storyline
> 
> thanks for reading!  
> ~Win (also if you want i am realminhyuk on tumblr!)


	6. Lost

 Hongbin jumped and whirled around.

            “I’m sorry, I just got turned around from the bathroom and didn’t know which-“

            Hakyeon laughed.

            “It’s okay, I don’t mind you exploring. Taekwoon however, isn’t a big fan of people going in his room, so watch for that one next time.”

            “How exactly big is your house? It definitely isn’t this big on the outside.”

            Hakyeon laughed again.

            “Most of the houses in that part of the city are like this. The actual location of the house is out by the forest where most of the elves live. The street door is just a way to get to the city conveniently.”

            “Is it magic?”

            “Hmm, I guess you could call it magic. Elves don’t really have a lot of actual magic, but when it comes to nature we are the pros at manipulation and control. It’s our specialty.” Hakyeon moved from leaning on the door frame to enter the room.

            “I let Taekwoon and Sanghyuk decide what they wanted their rooms to be like. Within my boundaries, of course. Sanghyuk asked for “dark white” walls. Dark white isn’t even a thing. What was I supposed to do with “dark white?” So I just went with gray and ignored his complaining. Dark white.” Hakyeon huffed.

            Hongbin stifled a laugh. Hakyeon grinned at him.

            “And then this one’s mine!” He gestured at the room they were in.

            Hongbin took it in again, stepping into the farther into the room, this time paying attention more closely. Everything looks pretty simple at first glance, but when he checked again there were little details. There as a dresser next to a door on one side, maybe leading to another bathroom. The dresser had a big mirror on it, with several various cosmetics lined up against it. The walls were pretty bare, just a smooth white. The rug under his feet was soft and thick, a contrast to the wood floor that made up the edges of the room. The bed was big, but the plethora of pillows gave it a feel of comfort, and the bedframe had a design wrapping around it, intricate and delicate. Hakyeon noticed him staring.

            “That was carved by my uncle. Elven families work kind of different than human ones do, we are all part of a bigger community. I don’t even know who my real parents are, there are always a lot of people raising one child. We don’t get a lot of newborn elves, so babies and young ones are treasured.

            “It wasn’t ever a big deal though, I was really well cared for. I had a lot of friends, even if most of them were older than me. I had one same-age friend though, another boy named Minhyuk. We were raised in the same group, so we went to school and did basically everything together. I would say he was my best friend, and I’d like to think I was his.

            “Everyone in the family adored him. So when he got sick, everyone worried and fussed over him for the week that he was bedridden. I hardly left his side.”

            Hakyeon laughed softly.

            “It was kind of pathetic, in a sad way, to see such a lively person stuck like that in a big bed in a stuffy room. I don’t think he was very happy about it, even though he wasn’t very responsive. I wish I could tell you his last words, but he never really said any.

            “I also wish I could tell you he died peacefully, but I don’t think he found much peace in that big room surrounded by people who barely knew him. He did smile at me though, I think.”

            Hongbin didn’t really know what to say. What was the appropriate response for this? He opened his mouth, but Hakyeon interrupted him.

            “You don’t need to say you feel sorry or anything. I always hated that, hearing about how sorry someone was for the loss. It was pretty hard, for a while, getting used to being alone more often. Not that the other elves left, it just wasn’t the same. I didn’t have any really close friends after him, until I met Taekwoon.”

            Hakyeon laughed again.

            “I bet you weren’t expecting to be told my sad little story, sorry.

            “But back to the bed, my uncle carved it for me a couple of years later, and the pattern on it is the pattern that Minhyuk had carved into a board that he gave me. I had lost it, and so my uncle remade something beautiful with it.”

            Hongbin, still unsure of what to say, just nodded.

            “Well! Enough of all the depressing talk, I came to find you and tell you Taekwoon is making dinner, and that you should stay, he’s making my favorite galbi!” Without waiting for a response, Hakyeon grabbed Hongbin’s hand and pulled him out of the room and down the hall, towards the sound of laughter. They passed another door that Hongbin hadn’t gotten to on their way back, and he decided he would check it out later.

            The main room was now brightly lit, since there was no more daylight streaming through the windows. Hongbin hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. He should probably make his way home pretty soon, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to stay and have dinner. He finally decided to look out the windows, which showed a flat patio leading to a path weaving its way through a forest, with lights shining in the distance. That must be where the other elves live, or at least where the other houses were. Hongbin couldn’t see much, but he could faintly hear music coming down the path. It was probably beautiful during the day, and part of Hongbin wanted to come back during the day and see it, because it wasn’t often that you heard of elves letting humans hang out in their houses. It wasn’t that they didn’t get along, but the elves were pretty secluded, and didn’t venture out past their comfort zone very often, from what he heard. He wondered how well Hakyeon really fit in, since he hadn’t seen any other elven friends, and since he was so outgoing and social.

            “Yah, Hongbin-ah, come take a seat! Where’d you run off to anyways? We were waiting for you!”

            Jaehwan’s voice brought him back. The table in the middle of the room was cleared off, and more chairs had appeared. Taekwoon was standing in the kitchen next to the oven, in a cute little apron that Hongbin bet Hakyeon had gotten him. Hakyeon let go of Hongbin and went over to stand by the tall man, poking him in the side until Taekwoon looked over, and sighed, letting him taste the cooking meat. With a happy hum, Hakyeon turned back to the room, chewing. Wonshik had awoken at some point to move, but was now at the table, head on his arms, dozing off, until Jaehwan shouted his name right in his ear, which woke him right up.

            “Don’t yell at me, oh my god, how many times do I have to tell you all, I have sensitive ears!” He reached for Jaehwan, who danced out of his grasp, laughing. The satyr stood, and tackled the fairy down, wrestling with him for a couple of minutes before Hakyeon yelled at them to stop and sit down like civil creatures, if such a thing was even possible.

            Sanghyuk was still sprawled over the armchair, watching the fiasco. Hakyeon looked at him and told him to get out of the chair and sit at the table, to which the vampire rolled his eyes, but still complied. He dropped into a seat, almost putting his feet up, until he noticed Hakyeon already glaring at him. Wonshik and Jaehwan finally made their way to chairs, the satyr punching a giggling Jaehwan in the arm. Taekwoon brought the dishes over to the table, and sat down next to Sanghyuk, who scooted his chair a little bit away from him, which Taekwoon either didn’t notice or ignored, Hongbin suspected the latter.

            Hakyeon took the seat at the head of the table, before looking up at Hongbin.

            “What are you doing, come sit down!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how to write anything sad  
> i hope it works out okay?  
> sorry minhyuk ilu <3
> 
> just some backstory i guess? and more description???  
> thanks for reading!
> 
> ~Win


	7. About Cats and Dandelions

            Hongbin surprised himself by enjoying dinner more than he thought he would. It really had been a long time since he had been out with any friends or really gone out at all. Sometimes he would wander through the city taking photos and then taking them back to his computer to edit, but between that and work he didn’t really leave his apartment. So being around such a lively group was definitely different from his norm. The others were loud, and there was a lot of laughter that Hongbin felt was contagious, and couldn’t help but join in sometimes. Hakyeon would tell stories about Taekwoon who refuted all of them, and Sanghyuk told stories about Hakyeon, meriting himself many complaints from the elf. Jaehwan and Wonshik argued throughout the entire meal, with Jaehwan pulling out ridiculous arguments and explanations, and obviously frustrating Wonshik.

            Occasionally someone would direct a question at Hongbin, often asking him to agree or disagree with a comment someone made about someone else, sparking more arguing. Sometimes one of them would ask him a genuine question, which he gave simple answers to.

            “And when he saw the mouse, I swear it was like his eyes light up! I guess the cat instincts stay with you, eh, Taekwoonie? It was so cute, he looked like he wanted to go chase it.”

            “I didn’t want to go chase any mice, I don’t do that.”

            “There was that time you-“ Hakyeon began

            “I bet there wasn’t.” Taekwoon shot back at him.

            “You still do the thing where if you are sitting in the sun you follow it across the room and-“

            “That’s because the sun is warm, Hakyeon and I enjoy-“

            “Yeah but you do it as a cat too! And you like when I scratch your head.”

            “Why are you bringing that up? It feels nice. A lot of people like that.” Taekwoon responded. Hakyeon pointed his fork at Hongbin.

            “What about you, Hongbin? Do you enjoy when someone scratches your head, hmm?”

            “I wouldn’t really know, there aren’t very many people who just go around scratching heads.”

            “Okay here, come over here I’ll show you, then you can decide-“

            “Hakyeon, don’t, he’s just a guest. You’ll scare him away.” Taekwoon flicked him in the head.

            Sanghyuk laughed at them.

            “You’re such a weirdo sometimes, Hakyeon. How do you even make friends? I’m only here for the food and because I have nowhere else to waste my time.”

            “Sanghyuk you have absolutely no manners, finish chewing before you start talking. It’s gross, and close your mouth when you chew. And you know you love me.” Hakyeon directed his attention at the vampire.

            From the other side of the table, Jaehwan was going on about how some flowers were just inherently better than others, and Wonshik was disagreeing with him on every one.

            “Dandelions are nice, but I wouldn’t say they are nice to do anything with! I can’t believe they’re your favorite flower, they even only made mediocre tea.” Jaehwan argued.

            “Okay, but they’re delicious and easily accessible. And I never said they were my favorites, stop putting words in my mouth!”

            “So what is your favorite then? Do you only like them for the taste? You are missing out on so much aesthetic potential, your house must be so disorganized.”

            “What the hell does my flower choice have to do with the state of my house?” Wonshik groaned.

            “Your choice in flower has everything to do with everything! If you can’t even pick a nice flower than how else are you supposed to do anything nicely?” Jaehwan threw his hands up.

            “I swear, all of you fairies drive me crazy, why am I even friends with you, you all are so impractical-“

            Jaehwan raised his voice.

            “I’m not impractical I just-“

            “You fall out of windows! You don’t even use the stairs! How much more impractical are you going to get?” Wonshik pointed at him.

            Hongbin laughed, and Jaehwan looked over at him,

            “Hongbin! What kind of flowers are best? Then I can know what kind to get you to replace the ones I destroyed earlier.”

            “Umm, I guess I like amaryllis flowers?” He phrased it as more of a question than a solid answer.

            “Good choice! See, Wonshik, Hongbin knows what he’s talking about.”

            The rest of the meal proceeded along the same lines, with all the chatter. After the food was all gone, Taekwoon went back to the kitchen to make everyone tea, pointedly making dandelion tea for Jaehwan, who glared at him over the rim of his mug.

            The conversation slowly got quieter, and Wonshik looked like he was about to fall asleep, so Hakyeon stood and clapped his hands together, declaring that it was time for everyone to go home, at this point he wouldn’t get enough beauty sleep. Wonshik was the first to leave, telling Hongbin that he’d see him again sometime, followed by Jaehwan who promised visits to his work, which he didn’t respond to. Sanghyuk trudged off to his room, with Hakyeon yelling after him that he had better not go out and kill anyone tonight, he was tired enough of dealing with him, to which Sanghyuk just waved his hand. When Hongbin wasn’t paying attention, apparently Taekwoon had changed back into a cat and left. Hongbin finished his tea and stood to leave.

            “I should probably be going too, I have work tomorrow.”

            “Do you want me to walk you home? At this time of day some of the elves get a little rowdy and it can be dangerous to walk through these parts as a human.” Hakyeon asked. Hongbin debated his answer. He didn’t particularly want to get lost in this section of the city, especially if there were creatures acting up, so he shrugged.

            “Sure.”

            Hakyeon grinned.

            “Let’s go, then!”

            Hongbin wasn’t prepared at all for what was outside the door. The street had transformed, lights everywhere, elves dancing through the streets, some singing, some playing instruments. Hongbin felt like he was seeing some strange phenomena, with all the colors and noise. It was very distracting, and at first he didn’t notice Hakyeon tugging on his sleeve, smiling at him.

            “Nighttime is kind of a big thing for us, something about the cycles of the stars and a whole bunch of other natural nonsense I won’t go into.” He explained.

            Hongbin nodded and went back to observing. Some of the elves that danced by them smiled at him and shouted invitations for him to come and stay.

            “We also don’t see outsiders, much less humans, very often, so it’s kind of a big deal.” Hakyeon laughed, and smiled at some of the elves dancing around him.

            “Have you ever gone out and done all of this? Like dancing, and everything?” Hongbin asked, turning to face him.

            “Oh yeah, I love dancing! I used to take part in some of the competitions that were held, and if I do say so myself I was pretty good at it too.”

            Hongbin didn’t know why it was so easy to picture, but he could see the elf dancing and moving in fluid shapes that he would never recognize, twisting around like the elves around them.

            As they got further out of the neighborhood, it became much quieter, with some older elves sitting in chairs on the outskirts, who would still smile over at Hakyeon and Hongbin as they walked by. They continued, until Hongbin could recognize where he was. There were a couple people wandering around on the street, some of them who would look over at Hongbin with bright eyes, who would shiver. This time of night was when the vampires came out, and while they usually never caused big scenes, it was still pretty dangerous to be about. Hongbin remembered Hakyeon saying something about elves and vampires not getting along, because when they would notice Hakyeon walking next to Hongbin, they would turn away.

            When they reached his home neighborhood, which was populated mostly by humans, it got safer. Hongbin started directing them to his building, which wasn’t far. He stopped outside, and turned to Hakyeon.

            “Well, thanks, I guess, for tonight? It was fun.”

            Hakyeon grinned, and Hongbin could’ve sworn some sort of inner light emanated from him that wasn’t the streetlights.

            “No problem! You should come back again sometime, I’d always be glad to let you come over!”

            Hongbin nodded.

            “Am I going to see you tomorrow at closing again?”

            “Of course!”

            Hongbin dramatically sighed.

            “I guess I’ll see you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at hongbinnie making friends aww  
> moreeeee dialog sorry  
> this chapter is just kind of filler i guess? not really very much story involved lmao  
> there'll just be details that probably come back at a later point
> 
> i still dunno if i'm gonna give it like  
> a big plot  
> or just have it be a little romance fic or w/e  
> we will see how hongbin (and i) are feeling about it
> 
> also i hit 10k words wow this is more than i thought i was going to do with i thought about the au and decided to write it  
> thanks for reading!  
> ~Win


	8. Jelly Donuts

Hongbin yawned.

            “Hongbin, that’s the fourth time you’ve yawned just while I’ve been here counting.”

            “I’m just tired, sorry.”

            Hyuna laughed at him.

            “What, did you stay up too late contemplating your life or something? You look like you had a late night.”

            “I did have a late night, I went to have dinner at a friend’s house and ended up staying later than I thought I was going to.”

            Hyuna stopped what she was doing and turned to him.

            “You actually went out and did things? With friends? Like… real life friends?”

            Hongbin laughed.

            “What other kind of friends am I going to have? And yeah, with friends.”

            “Who???”

            “Well it was at Hakyeon’s house-“

            “So you DID make friends with the elf! I knew he didn’t bother you as much as you complain about him. He’s pretty cute. Maybe sometime you shou-“

            Hongbin talked over her.

            “AND Hakyeon’s friends. It wasn’t just the two of us.”

            Hyuna was obviously not listening, still talking about how he should hang out with Hakyeon again, and tell her all about it. Hongbin sighed and turned back to his work that he was doing. Well, that he was pretending to be doing. His mind was thinking about the past night, and how it really was good to be around other people that aren’t Hyuna, as much as he liked her it was still nice to see some new faces.

            Before he had realized it, it was time for his break. He had forgotten to bring food with him (again) so he faced his options. He could just wait it out and be hungry at the end of the day, or he could go out and get something before his break ended. He thought about it for a while, knowing that he should probably go eat something. There weren’t a lot of places nearby that he could grab a quick meal, except… the bakery was right next door. He debated it momentarily, and decided that he might as well. He had only been in a couple times, and when he had it had been delicious.

            Hongbin told Hyuna where he was going, who just shrugged and told him not to take too long. It was a pretty quiet day, and there weren’t any customers. It was sunny outside, and Hongbin had to blink a couple of times to adjust to the light. The flowerpot outside was still broken, and Hongbin wondered how it must have felt to fall on that from the window above. He looked up at the apartment above, that he hadn’t really realized was even there. But it was, and now had a new occupant. He turned away, heading over to the bakery. There weren’t any signs outside, and it wasn’t very noticeable. But those who had been were regulars, and praised the pastries.

            The door was open and inviting, and as soon as Hongbin entered, he was greeted by the girl at the counter. There was a whole counter filled with various pastries, most of which Hongbin had never heard of before or couldn’t pronounce. One of them looked kind of like a jelly-filled donut, and he knew he liked those, so he pointed out that one, and ordered a cup of coffee to go with it. The girl asked for his name, and then told him the total, which he fished out of his pocket and went to find a seat. A couple minutes later he heard his name called, and got up to go get his drink.

            “Hongbin is here??? Where?”

            Yep, he was there, just like Hongbin had figured. A bright red head popped out of the door to the back, accompanied by a wide smile.

            “Hey, Hakyeon.”

            “Binnie! I’m so glad you came over, but you should have told me you were coming! I would have gotten Taekwoon to get you a fresh batch of donuts. They’re one of his favorites, good choice.”

            “Ehh, it’s okay, I wouldn’t want to bother him-“ Hakyeon was already going back into the kitchen, saying something about just waiting where he was. Hongbin shook his head, and finished stirring the sugar into his coffee. The donut was really good, and he was hungry.

            After some time, Hakyeon came back out of the kitchen, holding a plate with another donut on it and with a cat balanced on his shoulder.

            “Here, this one just came out of the oven. And it’s not a problem, Taekwoonnie needed to get some fresh air anyways.” He set the cat down on the floor next to Hongbin, who reached down to scratch his head. The cat leaned into his hand and he laughed.

            “So you really do like having your head scratched, huh.”

            If cats could glare then the look Taekwoon was giving him would probably kill. He jumped up on the table, settling down in the middle.

            “He doesn’t really like to come out very often, so it takes a lot of convincing to get him to leave that stuffy room, even if I have to settle for it being as a cat. I’ve been trying to get him to be more social but he’s so difficult about it.”

            This time the cat’s glare was directed at Hakyeon, who just rubbed behind his ears, which was apparently enough of an apology for Taekwoon to settle back and relax.

            “Anyways! You’re at work right now, right? Well not at work, but working.”

            Hongbin nodded.

            “Yeah, it’s pretty slow, so my co-worker told me I could go get lunch. I forgot to bring any with me today, so I decided I could just come get something.”

            “You can come anytime, come and visit me. I guarantee Taekwoon will appreciate it, seeing as how the rest of the day I just spend sitting in his work space. He should value my help more though, everyone needs a taste tester. And someone to eat the rejects. And that falls under my job description.”

            “Does the owner of the café mind you staying? I mean, if you aren’t an official employee.”

            “Oh! Did Taekwoon forget to mention it? He is technically the boss now, the old owner had to move and told him that since he was the one who did most of the work he could just do what he wanted with it, so he decided to keep it operating. With my help, of course.” Hakyeon explained.

            Hongbin looked around him. There were only a few other people in the café, an old couple in one corner, a young fairy sitting alone with a book, and a pair of sprites who kept glancing over at Hongbin and giggling. He turned back to Hakyeon, ignoring the whispers that he could hear. Hakyeon glanced over his shoulder at the pair.

            “Are they talking about you?”

            “Probably. It happens a lot.”

            Hakyeon looked back at him.

            “Why?”

            “I dunno, I figure it has something to do with how I look. It happens in my store too, when we get guests like them. It’s not a big deal though.”

            Hakyeon’s face scrunched up.

            “That’s kinda rude.”

            Hongbin just shrugged, and reached for the donut that Hakyeon had brought out for him.

            “Ooh, wow, this is really good. Nice job, Taekwoon.” Hongbin directed at the cat, who huffed. Hakyeon grinned. Hongbin finished eating and brushed his hands off. He looked up at Hakyeon, who laughed at him and leaned across the table, grabbing a napkin.

            “You have jelly on your face.” He reached to over to Hongbin, and wiped the corner of his mouth carefully. Hongbin paused, but didn’t move away.

            “Ah, got it!” He hovered for just a second before settling back in his chair and balling up the napkin. He rolled the crumpled napkin over to Taekwoon, who batted at it.

            “Umm, excuse me, Mr. Human, but my friend over there asked me to tell you that she thinks you are really cute! And to invite you to come sit with us, if you want some company that’s not as stuffy as an elf.” One of the sprites had approached them, and stuck her tongue out at Hakyeon, who just rolled his eyes at her.

            “I’m not stuffy, and can’t you see he’s already sitting here?”

            She crossed her arms.

            “I can see that, but my friend is much cuter than you are, and I’m sure that he doesn’t like being stuck sitting here with you and your silly cat.”

            “I’m probably much more interesting than girls who just want to fawn over anyone who looks cute enough to talk to.” Hakyeon spat back. The sprite looked like she was going to say something else, before Hongbin stopped her.

            “I appreciate you asking, but I was actually just leaving, I have to go back to work.”

            Her eyes flicked back up to him, and a smile returned to her face.

            “Aww, that’s a shame. Well, maybe we’ll see you again sometime, eh?” She laughed, and turned to go back to her friend. “Bye, cutie!”

            Hongbin sighed, and looked back at Hakyeon.

            “Sorry about that.”

            “Why are you sorry? It was rude from the beginning.”

            Hongbin shrugged again.

            “But I do have to go get back to work,” he said, looking at the clock.

            “Then I’ll see you later, ten minutes to closing!” Hakyeon’s face lit up again. Hongbin laughed and waved his hand at him, walking across the room to the door, before Hakyeon yelled after him.

            “I’ll make sure to bring you another donut!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /hides face  
> how does romance work??????????????????????????????  
> i dunno let's find out together i guess  
> poor bean
> 
> thanks for reading!
> 
> ~Win
> 
> you know i have absolutely no idea why i decided to name this Antiques idk what it actually has to do with antiques or the concept thereof except for the store but at this point i have just accepted it


	9. It's Just a Sketch

            The rest of the day was pretty slow at the store, with only a couple more customers coming in. It wasn’t too bad though, when there was no one around he would just pull out his sketchbook and keep doodling.

            As his pencil scratched across the paper, he went back to thinking about lunch. It had been good, to spend some time outside of the room in the back that he usually stayed in for breaks, and the donuts were really good. His mind drifted from donuts to Hakyeon, and he remembered him gently wiping the jelly from his face. He hadn’t really thought much of it at the time, distracted by the sprite who approached them. Thinking back on it though, he felt his face heat up. It’s not that it bothered him, it was just that Hakyeon had been… pretty close to him. As Hongbin mulled over the event, he was startled by a voice right next to him.

            “Hey, are you spacing out? I can’t believe you weren’t even paying attention to the time until I was coming, I’m offended.” Hongbin glanced up to see Hakyeon leaning on the counter in front of him.

            “Oh, yeah, sorry, I was just drawing.” He looked down at his sketchbook, and immediately tried to pull it back off the counter, unconsciously having drawn…

            “Yah, is that me? Were you drawing me? Lemme see it, give it here.” Hakyeon pulled the book out from his hands despite Hongbin’s efforts.

            On the page was a sketch of a face that Hongbin hadn’t been intending on become anyone in specific, but apparently his wandering mind had channeled itself into his art, because the face did have Hakyeon’s figures. The same wide almond eyes, the same style hair that the elf almost always had, the same defined cheekbones, the same smile on the same lips.

            “Wooooow, this is really good! Do you draw a lot? I bet I don’t really look like this, this picture’s too pretty. Why’d you draw it?”

            Hongbin didn’t really have an answer.

            “I guess it was just what came to mind, I wasn’t really paying a lot of attention.”

            Hakyeon beamed at him and handed the book back to him.

            “Well it’s really good, and I’m very flattered, even though I’m pretty sure it’s mostly exaggerated.”

            Hongbin held back a comment about how no, he didn’t think so, he thought it was pretty on point, that he might even say it wasn’t good enough.

            Hakyeon pulled a little brown bag out, handing it over the counter.

            “As promised!”

            Inside the little bag was a donut, presumably jelly-filled. Hongbin grinned and nodded.

            “Thanks, I’ll save it for when I get off work.”

            Hakyeon fell quiet for a second, and Hongbin could tell he was thinking, so he waited.

            “Bin-ah, do you want to come out to dinner with me? Like a date?”

            “Like a what?”

            “No no no, I mean just like dinner, like go out to eat somewhere. If you want to, there’s this little place where I’ve heard they have the best tokki stew, and I’ve been meaning to try it, but Taekwoon of course won’t go with me, Sanghyuk obviously doesn’t eat a lot of food on account of the whole drinking blood thing, and Wonshik and Jaehwan have terrible table manners, so I wouldn’t bring them. So I was wondering if you wanted to come with me!”

            Hongbin was still a little caught up on the wording, debated for a second what he should do. He figured it wouldn’t hurt, he would have just microwaved something back at his apartment, and so real food would be good. He’d never heard of tokki anything, so he guessed that it wasn’t a human-run restaurant. He’d never been to one, much less with an elf or any other non-human, so he just nodded.

            “Sure, that sounds fun, I’d just have to let Hyuna know I’m leaving right after we close and-“

            Hakyeon’s face light up.

            “Great! I’ll go tell Taekwoon I won’t be escorting him home tonight. I’ll meet you outside, yeah?”

            “Sounds good,” Hongbin said, watching as Hakyeon was already turning and leaving.

            As the door shut behind him, Hongbin heard someone come out into the front and jab him in the side.

            “Hongbin! Did he just ask you out? And you said yes? That’s so exciting, I can’t believe someone would ask, especially an elf, you’re lucky, I hear they don’t interact with humans often! You’ll have to tell me all about it, details and everything. Ahh, I’m so proud of my little bean.”

            Hongbin turned to smack Hyuna’s hand away.

            “It’s not a date, it’s just dinner.”

            “Yeah, sure, whatever you say. Make sure to have fun, okay? You can go ahead and leave, I can finish up here. Have a good time!” She was practically ushering him out at this point, directing him towards the door. “See you tomorrow!”

            Hongbin followed her directing, almost tripping over the doorstop, and stumbling out of the door, just catching his balance.

            Hakyeon was waiting outside, laughing at Hongbin as he oh-so-gracefully made his appearance. He had put on a jacket, covering the loose white shirt that hung just past his hips, with a button undone at the top, over simple black pants. He looked nice, Hongbin idly thought, straightening up. Hakyeon was on the phone, and gestured at Hongbin to fall into step next to him as he started walking.

            “Jaehwan, no, I’m not going to grow you an entire field of dandelions, why would you even want them?” He paused, listening. “I’m not enabling you to fill Wonshik’s house with dandelions, anyways, just go pick a whole bunch on your own. You’ll have to figure out how to get them there by yourself too, you have magic, Jaehwan, do you just forget sometimes?”

            Another break.

            “You’re hopeless. Just do it by yourself. And hey, don’t forget you have to replace Hongbin’s store’s flowerpots. Yes, you totally could have done it today, what else do you do during the day except for sit on your couch and watch centaur dramas? So no excuses from you. Just do it tomorrow, okay? I have to go, I’m going to dinner with Hongbin, I’l- no, it’s not, don’t make assumptions- No, that’s not what- Jaehwan stop interrupting me- Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking abou- this is a dumb conversation, I’m hanging up. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Have a good afternoon.”

            Hongbin could vaguely hear Jaehwan’s voice through the phone, but it was unintelligible. He wasn’t sure exactly what the conversation had been about, but he had started to get used to that, now knowing him.

            “Ah, sorry about that, he’s just being dumb and passive-aggressive to Wonshik again, it seems as though they are still arguing about dandelions.”

            Hongbin started laughing.

            “He was right though, dandelions don’t make the best tea.”

            Hakyeon glanced at him sideways and grinned.

            “No, I suppose they don’t.”

            The restaurant they were going to wasn’t far, and it was nice outside, with the sun just casting shadows on the buildings, reflecting off some of the mirrors. Hongbin looked over at Hakyeon, paying attention to something he was saying about his day at work, distracted by the way the sun hit the bright red hairs that fluffed up in the wind. He shook his head a little bit. Since when had he become so attentive? He went back to focusing on the conversation, and definitely not on how Hakyeon was walking and the shadows cast on his face from both sides because of the sun and the reflections, and definitely not on how close he was to Hongbin.

            They had walked closer to Hakyeon’s neighborhood, and he stopped in front of a little building that looked more like a house than an establishment, and tilted his head towards it, smiling at Hongbin.

            “Let’s go, hmm?”

            The inside of the building was as quaint as the outside, with a counter at the front with an elf smiling at them, particularly at Hongbin, welcoming them and directing them back through several different rooms into an open space with a couple of tables ranging in size, most already occupied. The elf lead them to a booth along the side of the room, and handed them menus, bowing and telling them he would return as soon as they were ready.

            Hongbin settled back in the firm but comfortable seat, slipping off his jacket and piling it next to him. He reached for the glass of water that was on his side of the table, and noticed that Hakyeon was watching him.

            “What is it?”

            “Nothing, I was just going to tell you that I like your shirt better without the jacket, it looks nice.” Hakyeon said, reaching for his own glass.

            Hongbin had to fight to keep his face calm, and laughed.

            “Eh, I guess.”

            He looked down at the menu, and realized that he recognized none of the names of any of the dishes.

            “What would you suggest? Since I don’t know anything about this kind of food.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im tRYING  
> i have this whole plan going but im not sure if it will work or not so i went over the whole thing like five times in the shower  
> i'm glad no one walked into the bathroom to hear me talking to myself about dumb elves and boys HA  
> i hope everything still works? as of now? we are getting to the romance-y parts i guess  
> WE WILL HAVE TO SEE, HMM  
> i don't know how to come up with names of things so i just use random korean words the dish hakyeon is talking about is called rabbit bc idk it seems legit
> 
>  
> 
> thanks for reading!!!  
> ~Win


	10. Tree Trunks

            Hakyeon had ordered them two dishes in a fluid voice, pronouncing words Hongbin was sure had sounds that didn’t even exist, laughing when Hongbin tried to replicate the names. The atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable, and Hakyeon never ran out of things to talk to Hongbin about, going on about all kinds of topics. After he had talked for a while, he crossed his hands under his chin.

            “So what about you?”

            Hongbin looked up from where he was folding a napkin into squares.

            “What do you mean, what about me?”

            “You haven’t talked very much yet, tell me stuff about yourself, what’s your favorite color, dessert, what would you name a bird if you owned one, anything!”

            “Well my favorite color is navy, I like whipped cream cake. I have no idea what I would name a bird, I don’t know a lot about birds? I don't know what I would name one.”

            “But tell me more than that, like what do you like doing? Where’d you come from? When’d you decide to start drawing?”

            Hakyeon paused.

            “Why’d you draw me?”

            Hongbin decided to start at the beginning and put off answering the last question.

            “I really like photography, but I never would do anything with it, it’s just fun to do as a hobby. I’m trying to learn guitar, but since I’m left-handed it’s a little bit harder to do.”

            “Oooh, you’re left handed? That’s cool, what’s it like? Is it hard?”

            “Is it hard to be right handed? I have no idea.” Hongbin continued. “I’m from outside the city, in Mogi, you know where that is? It’s pretty small, which was nice, but it got kinda frustrating as I got older, and my mom was just as frustrated with me lounging around as I was, so she told me to leave.”

            “What’s your mom like?”

            Hongbin paused.

            “Well I was never really that close to her, I was pretty self-contained, since my dad had moved to the south for work and only got to come visit sometimes. But she is really beautiful, and probably the source of all of my interests. She was the one who encouraged me to draw.”

            He paused again.

            “And as to why I was, what I was drawing earlier, I was just doodling and letting my mind picture whatever it wanted to, and I guess… the first thing I thought of was you?” He fiddled with the napkin in his hands, looking down.

            Hakyeon smiled at him.

            “I’m glad I can be such an inspiration,” he said, putting emphasis on inspiration.

            “Hmm, maybe I’d just call you a distraction.” Hongbin let a little smirk tug at his mouth.

            “First of all, how dare you. I’m a perfect inspiration, if I’m calling anyone a distraction here it’s you, can’t even focus with you around.”

            Hongbin laughed, and Hakyeon fake-glared at him from across the table. It looked like he was about to say something else, but the food arrived at the table and Hongbin triumphantly decided that he was the victor in the situation.

            The dishes were delicious, full of flavor and spices that Hongbin had never tasted before. Hakyeon made faces at him until he finally let him try a bite of his food, but the elf insisted that Hongbin had to give it to him, and so he had to resist “missing” and hitting the side of his face. Hakyeon offered some of his own plate to Hongbin, who leaned over and let Hakyeon feed him a bite of the colorful food. Both of the dishes were equally tasty, and Hongbin soon found himself scraping the bottom of the plate. Hakyeon grinned at him.

            “You’re a fast eater, did you like it?”

            “You’re one to talk, you’re already done, and yeah, it was really good, thanks for inviting me to come along.”

            Hakyeon nodded, and did the thing he does where he chews slightly on his lip when he’s thinking about something.

            “Do you want to come back to my house? For tea, or something.”

            Hongbin was slightly surprised, but also wasn’t against the idea, so he agreed.

            “Sure, that sounds good.”

            Hakyeon beamed at him.

            “Let’s go, then!”

 

            It was still light outside when they left the building, but the shadows were much deeper than before. It was still warm though, and Hongbin didn’t feel the need to put his jacket back on. Hakyeon kept asking him questions as they walked, so he yet again didn’t notice when he stopped in front of the elf’s house. Hakyeon laughed at him.

            Through the door was the same scene that Hongbin had seen last time, with a hall leading to the main room in the back. This time he had time to walk slowly and look at the pictures on the walls. Some of them were pictures of Hakyeon with other elves, and some were faces Hongbin didn’t recognize. There was a collage of frames that had pictures of Wonshik, Jaehwan and Taekwoon, and one of Hakyeon with Sanghyuk in the background baring his fangs at him. There was one bigger picture, looked like a painting, of Hakyeon smiling with another young boy next to him, which Hongbin figured was his old friend, and he kept walking.

            The lights were low when they walked in, and Hakyeon went around turning them back up, warming up the space.

            “Taekwoon is probably out doing some cat things, he’s often out late. Go ahead and sit down, I’ll get the water going. Or you can go look at that last door you didn’t get to see, I saw you eyeing it yesterday.”

            Hongbin’s eyes widened.

            “I-“

            “It’s fine, go ahead! I can meet you up there when everything is ready.” Hakyeon waved him off with a hand and turned back to the kitchen, leaving Hongbin to his own devices. Hongbin sighed.

            Was he really that obvious? Probably.

            He rotated on his heel, going back to the hall and finding the one door he had missed. He felt like this door was somehow important, and there would be something unlike everything else behind it.

            He was kind of right, at first glance. The only thing behind the door was a staircase, spiraling upwards. He looked up, and couldn’t see where it led, so he went ahead and started climbing. The lights weren’t on at first, but as he walked past them they flickered to life, illuminating a handrail and walls that had patterns swirling up the sides. As he kept climbing, the air got cooler and more open, and as Hongbin went step by step up the lights started to be further spaced. There was another door at the top of the staircase, and when he opened it he was greeted by something he would not have expected.

            The room he stepped into was big and domed, and part of it was open to the air, with a big deck looking out onto the forest. There were bookshelves lining the walls, and cushioned chairs in little clusters around the room, with lamps placed nearby. Hongbin stared around him, walking across the floor, practically feeling the room move with him as if it could sense him. The open side of the room had a breathtaking view, rising above some of the trees but there were still others that dwarfed it, making Hongbin feel insignificant. He could still see the stars, though, and he could see them far better than he could back in the city. There were a couple of chairs on the deck as well, and a telescope on the far edge. The breeze brushed over him, curling its way around the trunk and deck.

            Hongbin moved to the edge, debating whether or not to look down, before deciding that one look couldn’t hurt. He peered over the edge, and realized that he was a lot higher up than he thought he was, with the lights of the forest even farther away. The tree stretching below him had smooth bark, and when he turned his head to look up, the bark continues up before dividing into huge branches covered with dark leaves.

            “Do you like it?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love the idea of hakyeon having this kind of thing in his house  
> idk why  
> it just fits him  
> the telescope is taekwoon's though even though that isnt relevant and i dont even know if i'll mention it but now you know? i guess?  
> onwards we progress  
> IT GETS REALLY ROMANTIC IN THE NEXT CHAPTER REALLY FAST OKAY  
> i dont know what im doing
> 
> thanks for reading!  
> ~Win


	11. Dance

            Hongbin turned to face him. Hakyeon was standing at the door with a tray in his hands, with two steaming cups on it.

            Hongbin didn’t know what to say, so he told him that.

            “I don’t know what to say.”

            “Not a lot of guests get to come up here and see this. It’s kind of like my private study, I come here a lot. It’s where I relax, when I can. Isn’t it pretty? I can sit here and watch the stars move through the entire night, with no one to bother me. I haven’t even brought Sanghyuk up here yet.”

            Hongbin looked back out the opening. Somehow he felt warm, knowing this was a special thing that he was getting to see. He inhaled, and then let his breath out slowly.

            “It feels like the tree is breathing with you, doesn’t it? Every tree has a sort of center, where the energy that it takes to grow itself tall and strong is stored. This room is right under my tree’s center, so the whole room will feel like it’s alive simply because it is.”

            Hakyeon put the tray down on one of the small tables and walked over to the edge of the balcony, placing his hands on the railing. His face was soft, with the backlight from the room as well as the pale light that filtered through the leaves above, a multitude of colors because of the setting sun and the rising moon colliding all on the same person standing before Hongbin.

            His brain ran through a whole bunch of words, shuffling through them and dismissing the ones he didn’t think worked.

            “Beautiful” was the one that came to mind, and it wasn’t until a second later that Hongbin realized he had said it out loud. Immediately he wished he would swallow the words straight back into his mouth. But he couldn’t do that now, so. He could feel a flush rise on his cheeks and feel his face heat up. He looked at the floor, and then the wall, and then back to the floor, and then his hands, which he clasped together in front of him.

            The room was silent, except for the quiet sound of leaves that Hongbin could barely hear over the pounding in his head. Why’d he have to go ahead and open his mouth? Ugh, he probably had make Hakyeon uncomfortable, should he apologize? Was he making it awkward? It was probably awkward. He finally raised his head and looked across the room at Hakyeon, who was staring over at him. Hongbin would’ve immediately looked away again if not for the look on the elf’s face.

            It was a whole lot of things at once, and Hongbin couldn’t pick out all of them. His eyes were glistening, and his mouth was barely open, and he was staring at Hongbin, who could feel his ears warm up, and he prayed that he looked more collected than he felt. He meant what he said, he really did look beautiful, still emanating that kind of light that Hongbin had only ever seen on Hakyeon, that Hongbin had decided was just him.

            It was still silent, and Hongbin started to fidget, wondering what to do next. Apparently he didn’t need to think too hard about it, because Hakyeon started walking towards him, and he didn’t move, holding his breath. As Hongbin watched him come closer, part of him kept thinking about the shine of the lights on the elf’s skin, and the way that his eyes were wide and dark, kept thinking about how his neck dipped perfectly below the slipping edge of his shirt, kept thinking about the way his lips were slightly parted, kept thinking about the way that he was looking at him. Hongbin thought about how each part of him was moving in a single way, so smooth that he almost looked like he was floating, but Hongbin felt like he was the one who was drifting.

            Hakyeon was right in front of him now, looking about eye to eye with him.

            Hongbin said it again, quieter this time.

            “Beautiful.”

            He watched as Hakyeon’s hands moved from his sides, and then felt the warm touch against his face. His mind started to move too fast, and his head reeled. What was he supposed to do here? Hakyeon was looking at him intently, and then his face softened and he shifted back a little bit, hand slipping down to Hongbin’s shoulder. Hongbin let out a little breath he didn’t know he was holding, in a way both grateful and disappointed. Hakyeon smiled at him.

            “I don’t think I’m the beautiful one here.” He stepped back from Hongbin and turned back. “Come on, the tea’s getting cold. I want to show you somewhere after we’re done.” Hongbin just dumbly nodded, and directed his feet to move him over to the table Hakyeon was sitting by.

            He was relieved that things didn’t seem to be awkward, and it just took him a few moments of silence and drinking some of his tea to clear his head enough to respond back to Hakyeon talking more about his tree, and telling him some story about showing Taekwoon the room they were in. Hongbin relaxed, and everything appeared to return to being casual. He couldn’t completely shake the picture out of his head.

            When they finished the tea, Hakyeon stood and offered his hand to Hongbin, who grabbed it to pull himself up, standing and then that part of his mind thought about how soft Hakyeon’s hand was, and how steady it was, and Hongbin loosened his grasp and let go of the elf’s hand. Hakyeon didn’t seem deterred, and gathered up the cups, leading him to the door.

            “Come on, it won’t be the right light for much longer!” He called behind him, nudging the door open with his hip and descending the stairs, and Hongbin followed him. The stairs seemed to reach on forever, and when they reached the bottom he was grateful. Hakyeon went over to the kitchen and put the dishes in the sink, before going back past Hongbin down the hall towards his room, tugging at Hongbin’s hand to bring him along. He opened the door and crossed the room, going over to a door that Hongbin had apparently not noticed the first time around, and pulled it open. As he approached, Hongbin could see that it lead to outside, to a path that stretched towards the forest.

            Hakyeon ushered him out the door, closing it behind him. Hongbin was still, taking in a second to just look at the sight in front of him.

            Being on the same level as the forest floor had a completely different feeling as compared to higher up. When he twisted his head, he could see the deck far above him. The path was just dirt, well worn. He noticed that Hakyeon was already going, and he ran a few steps to catch up to him. As they neared the main forest, Hongbin could hear music and voices, in the same melodious words that Hakyeon had used earlier, talking to the waiter in the restaurant. The lights shifted from being vague shapes into being lights hanging from branches, some climbing up tree trunks, some white and some in different soft colors. The elves here were much more colorful than the ones in the city, and more active. Hongbin felt one tug on his hand, knocking him off balance, before another hand caught him and swept him into a spin, pushing him back into the throng of elves, who all started to laugh, and different hands pulled him in different directions, all as part of one movement, not forceful but firm and directing.

            For one of the first times in his awkward life, he felt surprisingly graceful, even though he wasn’t doing anything. The laughter was infections, and he grinned, just letting everything move with and around him. He felt one pair of hands being particularly grabby, and fell forward into a more familiar pair of arms, looking up into a wide smile on a tan face, and he felt himself being pulled up and closer, and then Hakyeon began to move, guiding him in a steady-paced dance, that went both against and with the music that was playing around them. Hongbin felt like he almost stepped on his feet sometimes, but the elf would always move just right so that he didn’t. Something in him wanted to let go and watch Hakyeon dance on his own, but the rest of him wanted to stay right where he was.

            He didn’t notice them drifting away from the crowd, until he felt Hakyeon pull back and stop the movement. Hongbin almost fell, but Hakyeon’s hand had stayed put with his, steadying him.

            Hakyeon laughed.

            “Having fun?” Hongbin just grinned back at him.

            “Yeah.”

            Hakyeon’s hand was still firmly holding his, as he started pulling him along again, and this time Hongbin kept up with him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH  
> this was rly hard to write bc i couldnt decide how fast i wanted things to move so i slowed them down and i didnt like that so i changed it  
> anyways this is what came out  
> THINGS ARE GETTING SO FLUFFY  
> i still dont know how to write romance but i got to go into detail about how beautiful hakyeon is so that was nice
> 
> um yes thank you for reading!  
> ~Win


	12. Trees in Water

            Hongbin felt almost giddy as Hakyeon led him along, as they went further into the forest. It started to grow darker, the lights less sparse. The energy from the dancing still vibrated through him, settling into his core. He glanced over at Hakyeon, and wondered if this is how all of the elves felt, or if it was just him. He also wondered if it was some kind of magic, or trickery. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if Hakyeon hadn’t gone and pulled him back out again, if he had made his own way out.

            “Sorry about that, some of us get really excited when we see guests. I hope you didn’t get pushed around too much.”

            Hongbin smiled.

            “No, actually, it was fun. Why do you guys like newcomers so much? I’m sure any of you could bring just about anyone you wanted back out here.”

            Hakyeon tilted his head.

            “Most of the elves out here don’t really go looking for anyone new. Some of the elves who live in both the city and here have more interaction with outsiders, so it’s not as new for them. We’re very social, as a culture, but not very willing to reach out beyond our own.

            “When people do bring guests, like me bringing you, it’s usually looked on in a more… how should I say this, surface-y? view. A lot of humans who have come back here have been lured in and like you said, just about any of us can convince someone to follow us. It’s pretty dangerous, really, to be a human among the elves. What is intended to be playful and short for an elf is often different for a human.”

            Hongbin didn’t entirely understand what he was talking about, but nodded anyways, gathering that him being here was rare.

            “Have you ever seen any humans who the elves have brought here? How long to they stay?”

            Hakyeon was quiet for a minute before responding.

            “Most of them don’t ever leave again.”

            Hongbin pretended to move to full his hand out of Hakyeon’s grasp.

            “What, are you just here to convince me to stay with you forever? Well I won’t have any of it, you’ll have to take me home.” Hakyeon just tightened his hold and laughed.

            “You’re already here, aren’t you?” He swung his arm, dragging Hongbin with him. He did finally let go, running a few steps ahead of him and twirling back to face him. Apparently the atmosphere from the crowd hadn’t just been contagious to Hongbin, since the elf was more energetic than he usually was.

            Hakyeon kept running ahead of him, telling him to hurry up and complaining about how slow Hongbin was being. He had no idea where they were going, but it was beautiful, wherever it was. There was still some light coming from different plants, glowing in soft shades of blues and greens, sometimes purple. There was moss on the trees, and covering some of the roots that were visible, some of which Hongbin almost tripped over. There weren’t as many flowers as he thought there would be, probably because of the lack of sunlight in this area. There were some mushrooms and other little plants growing around though.

            As Hongbin was looking at the forest floor, he noticed little brighter spots shaped like footprints. He looked up at Hakyeon and watched as he walked. Where he stepped it did seem to get a little brighter and a little greener. It was fascinating to watch, the way the contact between him and the ground seemed to harmonize. He looked up at Hakyeon’s back. He thought back to the scene up in the tree, and how close Hakyeon had been, so close he could smell the herbal shampoo that he used, so close that he could almost feel Hakyeon’s breath on his face, but maybe he was just imagining that part. He also thought about how Hakyeon had looked at him before he moved away, like he could tell that Hongbin wasn’t sure what to do and was hesitating. He internally sighed, and shoved all the thinking aside for now, choosing to focus on the surroundings and the immediate. Ahead of him, there was a big open clearing that was filled with a pale green-blue light, and as Hakyeon burst out into the clearing, Hongbin close behind, he saw a tree growing on a little island surrounded by a pond that seemed to be the source of the light. The clearing was quiet, and the ground was soft beneath Hongbin’s shoes.

            Hakyeon turned around to watch him, as Hongbin took everything in. Everything was in darker shades of greens and purples, and the flowers that were inside the clearing were small and loosely spaced, with little petals that were directed towards the source of light. He wandered forwards, crossing the clearing, watching the way the light changed with the movement of the pond. He reached the edge, and everything around him was thrumming with a pulse, and he could swear if he took his pulse it would be going at the same rhythm, because he could already feel his breathing pattern slow down and match with his surroundings. The pool of water was deep, Hongbin couldn’t see the bottom, and there were small black fish swimming around in the clear water, creating little bubbles that floated up to the surface. The island with the tree on it wasn’t too far from the other shore, Hongbin was sure that he could probably reach it if he leaned all the way over, but he didn’t really want to try.

            The tree itself was a light color, with pale wood and wide branches that stretched over the pond. There were knots all over it, swirling imperfections in the smooth bark. Some of them were shaped like eyes that almost looked like they were watching you. Hongbin turned back to Hakyeon, who was watching him from a little bit back. Hakyeon smiled at him.

            “So, what do you think?”

            Hongbin was distracted again from the clearing and the tree and the pond, looking at the way this different kind of light played itself across Hakyeon’s features, and how he looked like he fit in in this place, much more so than Hongbin did.

            “It’s beautiful.” He said, not sure what exactly he was talking about, but he knew he wasn’t wrong, whatever it was about.

            Hakyeon laughed.

            “Isn’t it? I came across it once when I was younger, and I’ve never forgotten it. I haven’t been here in a while, so I thought I would bring you!” Hakyeon strode across the space between them, and stood next to Hongbin facing the tree. “I thought you would fit right in, and I was right!”

            Hongbin scoffed.

            “I do not, I’m nothing like this place.”

            Hakyeon glanced over at him.

            “I think you are, more than you think.”

            Hongbin determinedly continued to look at all of the little details, sorting his thoughts. Hakyeon tugged on his sleeve until he turned around to face him.

            “What’re you thinking about?” He poked at the little lines between Hongbin’s eyebrows, grinning. Hongbin reached up and grabbed his hand.

            “Hongbin?”

            This time he let himself move before his brain had caught up, and he pulled Hakyeon’s face up to his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyyyyyAYYYYYYYyAAAAAAyeyayay  
> what am i doing i dont know  
> um yeah well  
> cliffhanger but not cliffhanger  
> this chapter is definitely a little bit shorter than the others im sorry i just had to cut it off here before i kept going
> 
> thanks for reading!  
> ~Win


	13. Warm Like Fire

            Hakyeon’s eyes widened, and this time he was the one who was standing still, but he didn’t make any move to leave or resist. Hongbin swore he could feel his heart beating in the ends of his fingertips where they were resting against Hakyeon’s face, and this time he could definitely feel his breath mingling with his own as he got closer. He could hear Hakyeon’s short inhale, and could see his eyes focused on Hongbin’s. He felt like he should close his eyes or something, but he couldn’t quite seem to get them to shut, and he decided to stop hesitating.

            Hakyeon’s lips were soft, and warm like fire against Hongbin’s, and his eyes finally closed. It was both everything he had imagined and something he could never have expected. He didn’t move, just focusing on the contact. Hakyeon finally moved, not away or back, instead lifting his arms to curl them around Hongbin’s neck, pulling him closer, and Hongbin gave in, letting him take control. Hakyeon tilted his head slightly, pressing towards him harder, his lips slowly moving and forcing Hongbin to respond, who didn’t stop him at any point, curling his hands around Hakyeon’s face. He finally had to draw back, inhaling deeply, but feeling like he couldn’t completely fill up his chest. He refocused to see Hakyeon still close to his face, eyes trained on Hongbin’s.

            He bit on his lip slightly, and spoke softly.

            “Beautiful.” And with that, he stole Hongbin’s breath again. This time he was more insistent, molding his lips to Hongbin’s, and Hongbin’s hands moved to weave through the bright red hair that was so loud and so very much Hakyeon. He was getting dizzy, from what he couldn’t be sure. He was pretty sure he should be breathing, but didn’t feel the immediate need to move at all. His lungs got the best of him though, and he had to pull back again. This time he just rested his forehead against Hakyeon’s, collecting himself. The clearing around them was quiet, but vibrant.

            “You really are trying to keep me here forever, aren’t you?”

            Hakyeon breathed out a laugh.

            “It wasn’t my intent, I promise.” He shifted and rested his head on Hongbin’s shoulder. “You’re the one who’s doing the convincing, anyways.”

            Hongbin smiled, even though he knew Hakyeon couldn’t see it.

 

            After standing there for a couple more minutes that stretched on into what felt like hours, Hongbin started complaining about how his legs hurt and he wanted to sit down, so Hakyeon shifted his weight to one side until they were falling, and Hongbin flailed on the way down, accompanied by laughter from Hakyeon. He ended up hovering above the elf, braced on his hands. The light emanating from the pond and the tree are reflected in his eyes, and Hongbin thinks that they are probably deeper than the pond itself, and that he’d much rather fall here. He moves over and lands next to Hakyeon on the ground, feeling the grass mold to match the shape of his back and head, staring up through the branches above them. Hakyeon slid his hand down to Hongbin’s, lacing his fingers through his hand.

            Hongbin wouldn’t say he was new to romance, but something about this was different, and he couldn’t decide if it was because he was an elf, or because he was just Hakyeon. He felt something brush his face, and looked over to see Hakyeon shoving a flower in his direction. Hongbin knew that there hadn’t been any red big flowers in the clearing before.

            “You can grow flowers?”

            Hakyeon grinned.

            “There’s a reason our city is so colorful and full of plants.”

            “And you remembered that amaryllis are my favorites?” At this Hakyeon blushed and turned away. Hongbin decided on another word.

            “Cute.”

            Hakyeon just smacked him again with the flower, letting go of it and letting it rest on Hongbin’s cheek.

            “Shut up.”

            Hongbin laughed.

            “You’re a lot sappier than I thought you were. Maybe you got it from the trees-“ He started, before Hakyeon had rolled into his side and pushed, wrestling him until he was the one above him.

            “I’m not sappy.”

            “You so are.”

            Hakyeon looked like he was going to say something, or lean closer, but instead he just let himself fall directly on top of Hongbin, knocking some of the air out of his lungs.

            “Get off, you’re heavy.”

            “Are you calling me fat? I can’t believe you would say such a thing.”

            Hongbin sighed and rolled his eyes, making sure that his reaction did not go unnoticed. He instead just wrapped his arms around the elf, staying where he was.

           

            It took a while for Hongbin to convince Hakyeon to finally get off him, and Hakyeon made sure to shove him as he rolled and sat up.

            “It’s getting late, you should probably get going, if you have work tomorrow.”

            Hongbin nodded, supporting himself up on his elbows.

            “Yeah, probably. Are you kicking me out?”

            Hakyeon smacked him and stood up, brushing the grass off of his back and legs. Hongbin pushed himself to standing too. He knew that it was later, but the area they were in seemed to be even brighter than before. He wasn’t sure if it was him or the actual atmosphere itself, but it was still astonishingly beautiful. He found himself not wanting to leave, but also knew he shouldn’t stay, that this wasn’t a place that he belonged in.

            Hakyeon took his hand again, leading him back through the path they had come along, and as they neared the center of the forest, he could hear the noise of the elves again.

            “Do you ever sleep?”

            Hakyeon laughed.

            “Not really.”

            Hongbin sighed. That means that it was just him who was the one who really needed to leave.

            They emerged back into the main space, and Hongbin could see the elves still dancing and laughing, and some of them looked over at Hakyeon and Hongbin and smiled wide, pulling them into the group again. This time they didn’t push them around as much, instead just returning to their own movements with Hongbin just present inside. Hakyeon let go of his hand, and motioned for him to follow. He led him towards an empty circle of space that was ringed by elves, and there was one single elf dancing in the center, dark hair whirling and spinning with the movements they were making. Hongbin watched, fascinated, until he noticed Hakyeon leaving him again and pushing his way into the circle, where he bowed to the other elf, who nodded at him and exited the ring.

            Hongbin realized just a second too late what was going on, as the music began again.

            Hakyeon was going to dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhHH i hope that went well it took me a long time to figure out how i wanted it and im still not sure if im completely satistfied? but oh well
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~Win


	14. Drowning

            Watching Hakyeon dance was like watching water flow over hands, rolling without interruption, but it was also so much more. As his feet found and lost their purchase on the ground over and over, pressing off his toes and sinking into each step that he took, he looked like fire twisting up from a single source, fluidly moving each joint and every part of him in a way that Hongbin would only describe as flawless. The power that Hakyeon channeled into his movements was almost terrifying, but his eyes were alive and his face was smooth and collected. Hongbin would never be able to describe it to anyone else, because it seemed god-like, the way that the elf’s hands flew and how his waist seemed to have become something less than bone, much more malleable.

            He had heard legends about the wild dances that were held outside of the city, but nothing he ever imagined would have come close to this. Watching it was almost like remembering how to breathe after drowning, or that’s how Hongbin felt. He’d heard a fairytale once that when you met the right person, time would stop and if it started moving again when you looked at them then you were destined to fall in love. Hongbin had never believed much in fairytales and made up stories, but standing there, watching Hakyeon dance through space, it felt like time had not only stopped, but simply ceased to exist, like he could spend forever in that one moment.

            Another elf entered the ring, and Hakyeon slowed to a stop and bowed, leaving the ring, but Hongbin was stuck where he was, watching Hakyeon connect eyes with him and smile, eyes curving up into half-moons as he approached Hongbin.

            “What’d you think?”

            Hongbin had no idea how to respond, but he felt like he should do something, Hakyeon was waiting for him to say something. Nothing seemed to feel right though, and it all just didn’t capture what he’d watched. His mind was struggling, and Hakyeon was still looking at him, and so Hongbin did the only thing that made sense to him at the moment, which was to pull him towards him and kissing him hard, which Hakyeon made a small sound of surprise at. After a couple of seconds, he pulled back and laughed.

            “I’ll take that as a ‘yes Hakyeon, it was really good and I enjoyed it’.”

            An elf pulled at Hakyeon’s arm and started speaking to him fast in what Hongbin had come to realize was just Elvish. The other elf was laughing, and pointed across the space at a group of taller elves that were staring at Hakyeon, who waved. One of them waved back but the others didn’t react. The elf who was talking to Hakyeon looked at Hongbin and kept talking, with Hakyeon nodding, and then smiling wide and responding, just as melodic and fast. Hongbin just watched the exchange.

            Hakyeon put his hand on the other elf’s shoulder, and nodded at her again, saying something that Hongbin figured equated to goodbye, because the elf smiled at him and bowed, before turning on her foot and rejoining a different group. Hakyeon turned back to Hongbin, and grabbed his hand.

            “Better get you home, it’s almost morning.”

            “It’s that late?” Hongbin was surprised at how late it was, they had only left the restaurant at what, 7? Hakyeon laughed at him.

            “It’s pretty easy to get lost, isn’t it?” He pulled on him again, heading away from the dance area and the other elves that were gathered around, getting quieter as time went on. A couple of the elves that they passed lightly smacked Hakyeon on the shoulder, grinning at him. Hakyeon looked like he might be blushing, but it could also just be the lights. Hongbin finally recognized the path that they had come down, and saw the tree with Hakyeon’s house appear out of the surrounding forest.

            “What happened, back there? Who were those other elves that were looking at you?” Hakyeon glanced sideways at him.

            “Oh, they were just some of the members of my family when I was younger. We don’t really talk anymore, though, and since I don’t come out over here very often, they must’ve just been surprised to see me.”

            “Really?”

            Hakyeon looked away from him.

            “Hmm, yeah.”

            Hongbin still felt like there was something else, but Hakyeon obviously didn’t want to talk about it, whatever it was. They reached the house, and Hakyeon let them in through the door to his room. He didn’t say much else while he led Hongbin back to the front door, handing him his jacket. Then he smiled at Hongbin, putting his hands on his shoulders.

            “Thanks for coming out with me tonight, I’m glad you could come.”

            “It was…” Hongbin grasped for words again. “Amazing.” Hakyeon’s smile widened.

            “I have to say, I’d like to take you back sometime. Maybe show you some more of my favorite old places, if you would want to.” Hongbin nodded.

            “That sounds good, I’d love to go.”

            Hakyeon let him go, and took a half step back.

            “I’ll see you ten minutes to six, then?” Hongbin laughed.

            “I guess so.”

            Hakyeon was quiet for a second, chewing on his lip again. He looked up at Hongbin, and leaned back towards him until he lightly pressed his lips to Hongbin’s.

            “Thanks again. Now, you better get going, if you hurry you might be able to get some sleep before you have to work.”

            Hongbin just nodded, and stepped out the door, looking over his shoulder to wave at Hakyeon, who was turning away, and Hongbin noticed his face fall slightly, and almost went back, but shook himself and headed home instead.

 

            He was definitely even more tired at work, and the owner of the shop was supposed to visit, so he had to organize as much as he could before he arrived. Hyuna was busy too, so she wasn’t able to pester him with incessant questions about how the night had gone. When the elderly owner finally showed up, the store looked better than it had for several weeks, even if it was still kind of a mess. The boss had nothing to say though, just walked around for a little while and checked around the back and basement, and then he left.

            As soon as the door closed, Hongbin leaned against the counter and yawned. Hyuna was quick on the attack, though.

            “Hey! So, how was it? You’re tired again, how late were you out? Where’d you go? Did you just have dinner or did you go somewhere else?” Hongbin squinted at her.

            “It was good, really good, actually.” Her eyes widened and her face lit up.

            “You never say that about anything, what happened? Oooh, you better tell me what happened, Bean.” He shrugged at her.

            “We had dinner, which was delicious, and then went back to his house-“

            “You did what???”

            “We went back to his house, and he made tea, and showed me around,” Hongbin paused, trying to figure out how to talk about it without telling her what really happened. “And then we just passed the time talking, I guess, and I lost track of time, so it was really late when I was able to leave.” Hyuna narrowed her eyes at him.

            “What else happened?” He feigned innocence.

            “Nothing else, really.” She pursed her lips.

            “Hmm.” With that, she just told him to stand up straighter and to greet the woman who was coming through the door.

 

            When Hongbin’s break came up, he wondered if he should go to the bakery again, and if Hakyeon would be there. Would he want to see him? Hongbin couldn’t think of why not, but a part of him was still a little anxious. He stood in the middle of the break room for a couple of minutes, before deciding that he would go over, and if Hakyeon was there he would stay and if not he would come right back over.

            This time, when he walked in, the girl at the counter greeted him by name, and told him to go ahead and take a seat, she would let Hakyeon know he was here. So the elf was there, probably just in the kitchen with Taekwoon. After a couple of moments, he popped out of the door to the kitchen, and hugged Hongbin, telling him that he had been waiting, and that Taekwoon was just working on a new batch of pastries, would he want to come back and watch? Hongbin just nodded and followed him back.

            The kitchen smelled delicious, and it was warm. It wasn’t very bright, but there were lights on above the oven, and a small window. Taekwoon was standing at the big island in the middle, rolling some dough between his hands, and he looked up when Hakyeon burst in, Hongbin in tow.

            “Hello, Hongbin.”

            “Uh, hey, Taekwoon.”

            “He’s making croissants right now, oh, it’s so fun to watch him fold them. Here, Hongbin, come sit by me, I’ll get you a fresh one, just a second.” Hakyeon snuck around Taekwoon and snatched one out of the pile of steaming croissants, earning himself a glare from Taekwoon, which Hakyeon promptly ignored. He bounced the flaky pastry between his hands as he walked back over to the two chairs that he had sitting in the corner, handing it to Hongbin. “It’s hot, careful.”

            Hakyeon dropped it into Hongbin’s hands, and he balanced it between his fingers, waiting for it to cool down.

            “How’s your day going? I’ve done nothing all day, Taekwoon hasn’t even let me eat one yet, how rude.” Hongbin laughed.

            “I haven’t don’t a whole lot more, than. We just had to clean up before a visit from our boss, which of course took the entire morning. I haven’t been able to sit down all day until right now.” He lifted the croissant up to his mouth, humming. “It’s good, here, try it.” He offered some of it to Hakyeon, earning a delighted look from the elf and a sigh from the cat. Hongbin still couldn’t quite get his head around the whole cat-to-person thing, but it didn’t really bother him.

            “He’s being a grump, he didn’t get enough sleep, and didn’t eat enough for breakfast, even though I told him that it would be fine.”

            “We were already running late, Hakyeon, it wasn’t my fault that you were napping too late.”

            Hakyeon stuck his tongue out at the chef, who just turned away from him.

            “Anyways, Hongbin, you look exhausted, you should definitely get more sleep tonight.”

            “Okay, but it definitely wasn’t my fault that we were out late.” Hongbin pointed the end of the croissant he had in his hand at Hakyeon.

            “Um, I could argue that, you were the one who was taking up all of my time.”

            Hongbin sighed dramatically and looked to Taekwoon.

            “Taekwoon, how do you even put up with this all day? It’s hard enough to just have ten minutes, I can’t imagine all day.” Taekwoon’s shoulders shook in what Hongbin was going to assume was his way of laughing, and Hakyeon punched Hongbin in the shoulder.

            “I’ll have you know that Taekwoon really appreciates my company, even if he’d never tell you.” Taekwoon scoffed at him, but Hakyeon just ignored him and turned back to Hongbin.

            “I’m glad you made it home okay, it was pretty late. Or early? I don’t know.”

            “Yeah, it was pretty quiet.” Hongbin paused, chewing on his pastry.

            “Hey, Hakyeon, do you want to come to dinner with me this time? There’s a restaurant by my house that I’ve been wanting to go to.”

            Hakyeon’s face lit up.

            “I’d love to!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this one is longer and we hit 20k words in total!!! amazing  
> i've never written this much on one thing at all ever and much less in like two weeks.  
> i don't really have a whole lot to say about this one so um  
> but it was hard for me to properly channel my appreciation of hakyeon's dancing into this  
> i should rename this "win talks a whole lot about how beautiful and wonderful hakyeon is" bc thats about what it is
> 
> thanks for reading!  
> ~Win


	15. Sundae Bar

            This time Hongbin was watching the time, and Hyuna laughed at him.

            “Less than a week ago you were annoyed when he came in and now look at you, you’re waiting and excited. Cute,” Hyuna said, stretching out the word. Hongbin reached for her to smack her, but she just kept laughing and went to the back.

            “Hey, could you wipe down the counters too?”

            “The counters are just as messy as always,” Hongbin called after her, hearing her laugh fade. He rolled his eyes.

            The clock above the register read 5:49, and Hongbin turned back to the front of the store. Why does he feel excited? It’s not it was any different from the routine. Something was different though.

            Exactly on time, like always, the bell above the door chimed.

 

            After Hongbin had finished up, he told Hakyeon to go ahead and wait while he got his bag from the back. Hyuna eyed him as he walked past.

            “Going on another date?” Hongbin’s cheeks turned pink, and she laughed.

            “Aww, Bean, you’re so cute! Have fun with your little elf friend.” She winked, putting unnecessary emphasis on the “friend” part. Hongbin pushed past her, flicking the side of her head.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

            “Yah, no you won’t, tomorrow’s your day off, did you forget? You always do, I can’t count the number of times you’ve walked in on your days off.” She gathered her jacket, walking with him back to the front of the store. She saw Hakyeon and grinned at him.

            “It’s Hakyeon, right? I’m glad Hongbin has finally made some  _friends_ that he can get out with, he keeps talking about you.”

            “I do not! Absolutely do not, no talking going on, I’m very professional.” Hongbin protested, but Hakyeon only laughed.

            “I just hope he doesn’t bother you too much talking about me.”

            Hongbin glared at him, and Hyuna laughed, saying her goodbyes and looking rather suggestively at Hongbin, who ignored the look.

            “She’s nice!” Hongbin rolled his eyes.

            “Yeah, when she’s not being intrusive. Anyways, we should get going. The place we’re going fills up pretty fast around this time of day.” Hakyeon nodded, and reached for Hongbin’s hand, lacing his fingers through Hongbin’s.

            There were clouds in the sky, and it was chilly outside. Hakyeon was leaning into Hongbin, who was trying to walk straight against him, almost pushing him off, but relented when Hakyeon rested his head against Hongbin’s shoulder.

            “Ahh, I’m tired.”

            “I thought elves didn’t need that much sleep.” Hakyeon huffed at him.

            “’That much’ does not equate to ‘none at all’, and I couldn’t sleep at all. I’m blaming you.”

            Hongbin was about to reply, but they had arrived at the building, and so he stopped.

            “Why are you stopping? There’s no restaurant here,” Hakyeon asked him.

            “Yes there is, it’s on the roof.” Hongbin directed them around the back and to a set of stairs, leading up to the doorway. Hakyeon followed him, eyes widening as they reached the top.

            The little restaurant was split in half, half was the inside dining area and the other half was outside under trellises that held strings of lights. There were some vines intertwined with the lights and the entire area was infused with a soft glow. It was warmer up there, and after the waitress seated them, outside per Hakyeon’s request, who smiled wide at her, making her blush, Hongbin handed him the menu.

            “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

            “I didn’t even think humans were able to make things this pretty!”

            Hongbin huffed.

            “Should I be offended?”

            Hakyeon laughed.

            “Come on, you have to admit it, you don’t see as many pretty things out here, compared to places like the clearing last night,” Hakyeon said, and then paused. “Well I guess there’s you, so that’s another thing.”

            “You definitely get some sap from the trees,” Hongbin told him, ducking his head anyways, already feeling the blush creep up his cheeks. Hakyeon just laughed at him again.

           

            The food was good, but not as good as the previous night’s meal, if you asked Hongbin. There definitely wasn’t any equal comparison between the elven food and what they were eating at the little rooftop restaurant. Even so, Hakyeon seemed to enjoy it, insisting again on Hongbin giving him some of his food. It was fun and simple though, and the lights above them grew brighter as the sky around them darkened. There were heat lamps spaced out around them, so it was warm and cozy around them. There weren’t a lot of people outside with them, so it was relatively quiet. Except for the loud laughter that came from Hakyeon every once in a while, when he was telling a dumb story or when Hongbin was complaining about his job or anything else.

            After they had finished eating, the waitress brought them a dessert menu, which Hongbin was about to refuse had it not been for the excited look that Hakyeon shot at him, and so he accepted it and thanked her.

            “So, I take it you want dessert?”

            “Yeah! I mean I’ve never eaten at a lot of human restaurants, so excluding the bakery and some other little places closer to my house, I never really get to have treats like the ones you guys have up here.”      

            “They aren’t really that special, just like little cakes, and ice creams. There’s a sundae bar, where you get to customize your own sundae, there’s some little pies, it looks like, ooh, looks like it’s probably freshly made. What’re you in the mood for?”

            Hakyeon looked at the menu in Hongbin’s hands, looking at the little descriptions and pictures.

            “How about the sundae thing you mentioned? That sounds interesting.”

            Hongbin nodded.

            “Sure, that sounds fine, you just have to pick what toppings and flavors you want, and then you mix it up when they bring it.”

            “Let’s share one!”

            Hongbin finally agreed to share a single sundae, but then the grand debate over what options to pick. Hakyeon obviously had a big sweet tooth, and kept adding things onto the list of what he wanted, and Hongbin kept telling him no, it wasn’t what he was thinking, no, butterscotch chips were not made out of butter or scotch. There were some things that he just thought was funny, and almost let him add on, but since they were going to be sharing he decided he should definitely have a say in what was going on.

            It kinda felt like a real date, Hongbin thought to himself, watching the way that Hakyeon was waving his hands around, talking about some cat thing that Taekwoon kept doing, after they had finally agreed on some elaborate combination of items to add to their ice cream. He was very expressive, and everything he did was just as lively as he was.

            “And then he kept scratching at it, and I told him that he either had to stop or I was going to make him wear a hat, ooh you should have seen the look he gave me, Taekwoon doesn’t like hats that much, unless they are little and soft. Sometimes I think I should learn how to knit, and just make him tons of hats so he can wear one every day.”

            Hongbin laughed at the picture of Hakyeon knitting a hat, and then at the image of Taekwoon wearing that same hat. Hakyeon smiled over at him.

            “You have a nice laugh.”

            “Trees, Hakyeon, I swear it’s the trees.”

            At that point the sundae arrived, bigger than Hongbin had expected, so he was glad they only decided to get one. Hakyeon’s face was lit up, excited, and he brandished one of the spoons in Hongbin’s face.

            “Let’s eat up!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> waaaah sorry I haven't posted a chapter sooner, school has been a butt and I've been tired (maybe because you stay up so late, win, you dumb)  
> anyways! nothing really happens in this chapter, it's just setting me up for the last one (!!!!)
> 
> thanks for reading and thank you for kudos(ing?)   
> ~Win


	16. Swings

            The sundae was just as sweet as Hongbin had figured it to be, seeing all the extras that Hakyeon had decided to add. It wasn’t bad though, and Hakyeon seemed to love it, and the elf ate most of it, which Hongbin was fine with. As Hakyeon finished the last of the sundae and grinned at Hongbin, Hongbin noticed ice cream that Hakyeon had missed on the side of his mouth, and before he really thought it through, he was grabbing a napkin and leaning across the table to press it against Hakyeon’s face, successfully getting the remnants of the treat off. He was vaguely reminded of the other day at the bakery, and as he paused, Hakyeon looked up at him.    

            “Thanks for getting that,” he said, softly smiling at him, voice quieter than it had been just before. Hongbin rested his hand against Hakyeon’s cheek for just another second, before pulling away and balling the napkin up in his hand.

            “Yeah, uh, you’re welcome.” He glanced away, noticing one of the restaurant workers cleaning off some of the tables. “They’re getting ready to close, we should be going.” He stood and pulled on his jacket, offering his hand to Hakyeon, who took it and pulled himself up, rising to his feet gracefully. He didn’t let go of Hongbin’s hand though, and Hongbin relented, just feeling the warmth of his palm. They bowed to the employee, and made their way down the stairs.

            Hongbin stopped in front of the main side of the building, looking down at their hands. He swallowed his embarrassment and looked back up at Hakyeon.

            “Hey, you’ve already shown me your place, would you want to come see my apartment? I mean, it’s not much, but I can make some coffee, if you’d like.”

            Hakyeon’s eyes widened just a bit, before they drew up into a grin. Hongbin had noticed that, that when he smiled it reached his eyes.

            “You have a nice smile.” He told the elf, who laughed.

            “Thanks. Some of the other elves think I smile too much at little things, and that I don’t ‘fully appreciate the bigger joys in life’,” he said, making quote signs with his free hand. “But I think I fully appreciate all the joys in life!”

            Hongbin laughed back at him.

            “Yeah, I think you do.”

            The walk to Hongbin’s apartment was quiet, and they went slow. The moon was out, hovering just past the center of the sky, with the very last of orange fading from the west. There weren’t very many stars to be seen, but that was pretty common in the city, because of all of the lights. The streetlights cast a pale yellow glow as they walked under them that faded out to darkness and then came back at the next light. There weren’t any vampires in this part of the city, and everything was calm, every once and a while a dog would bark and there would be a response from a voice. There were lights on in most of the houses they walked by, and sometimes they could hear laughter and voices coming from inside.

            It wasn’t anything like the forest, and Hongbin wondered if Hakyeon thought so too, but the elf seemed to be happy just looking around him. He was surprisingly quiet, with a content look on his face, just taking everything in. There was still that unexplainable light that Hongbin just felt coming from him, emanating from his golden skin. He was pretty sure that the sun had decided to share some light, and gave it to the elf. Watching as the light around them changed, and seeing the reflections in Hakyeon’s eyes shine, he reached out and ruffled the bright red hair.

            “Have you ever thought about silver?”

            Hakyeon turned to look at him.

            “Hmm? Silver what?”

            “Hair, you know. I think it would look nice, you’d be like silver and gold.”

            Hakyeon looked thoughtful.

            “No, I’ve never considered silver! But it sounds really nice, maybe I should do that next.”

            Hongbin nodded, and Hakyeon kept talking.

            “I’ve thought about copper too, you know, like a dark reddish color? And maybe blonde. But I don’t know if I would like the blonde as much.”

            Hongbin just smiled.

            “I think you’d look good in just about anything.”

            Hakyeon looked sideways at him.

            “But no orange.”

            At this the elf started laughing again, a deep laugh that had him stop walking. Hongbin grinned.

            “You’re right, no orange.”

            They were getting closer to Hongbin’s apartment, and the lights were going off around them as they walked. Hongbin turned the corner to his apartment, and Hakyeon paused.

            “What’s wrong?”

            He chewed on his bottom lip for a minute, looking across the street at the park that was by Hongbin’s building.

            “Can we go sit over there for a while? It’s still nice outside, and I want to watch the stars some more.”

            Hongbin was going to point out that there were probably many more stars that he could see from his room up in his tree, but he just nodded anyways.

            “Sure, there’s a little hill just a little bit from here, it’s right next to the creek that runs here.” Hakyeon looked up at him with bright eyes, and tugged at Hongbin’s arm.

            “Lead me there!”

           

            Hongbin started directing them to the place he was thinking of, but they passed the playground and of course Hakyeon stopped, and dropped Hongbin’s hand to go over to the swings.

            “Did I tell you the swings were my favorite as a kid?” Hongbin faintly remembered hearing something about it, but he didn’t say anything, letting Hakyeon continue.

            “I love the feeling of it, you know? Of being off the ground, defying the force of gravity. If I could, I would grow wings. I would love to fly, if I could do anything. It’s such a nice feeling, just moving through air without anything supporting you. I was always the one who jumped off the swing, none of my friends did.”

            Hongbin could absolutely picture Hakyeon sliding out of a seat and just floating for a split second in space, before dropping back down to earth. Hakyeon was doing just that, swinging higher and higher, legs pushing and pulling the swing through the air. As soon as he had deemed it high enough, he let go, and leaned forward, leaving the swing and jumping. It was almost slowed down for Hongbin, watching the way his hands spread and the way his face turned upwards.

            When the elf did hit the ground, rolling to a stop, he fell back onto the sand. Hongbin went over and started pulling on his arm.

            “Come on, you’ll get sand all over you.”

            Hakyeon stood and shook the sand out of his hair, and followed Hongbin off of the playground and back onto the grass. It wasn’t much longer until they found the slight hill, and Hongbin led him up to the top. There was a nice view of the sky, as nice as you could get, Hongbin supposed. Hakyeon flopped down again.

            “This is nice.”

            Hongbin sat down next to him, folding his legs.

            “Yeah, it is.”

            Hakyeon was humming, some tune that sounded like something Hongbin had heard back in the forest. He was pretty content to just sit there and listen, but Hakyeon swung his legs and sat up, scooting closer to Hongbin.

            “Thanks for tonight. It was fun.”

            Hongbin nodded, turning his head to look at Hakyeon, who was smiling. As he watched, Hakyeon straightened up, and sat his head down on Hongbin’s shoulder, still looking up at him. He moved again, this time bringing his face level to Hongbin’s. He was close, close enough for Hongbin to almost feel his nose brush against his cheek. His arms slid up and around his neck again, and finally pulled him close enough to graze his lips along Hongbin, who brought him back, deepening the contact. The kiss left him feeling dizzy, and this time he was sure it wasn’t just from lack of air. Hakyeon moved back just enough that Hongbin could still almost taste his lips, and smiled.

            “Now here, I would like to keep you forever.”

            Hongbin laughed softly.

            “You might as well.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's the end!!! thanks for sticking with it!!! i've read and reread all the comments and thank you all omg  
> i never really anticipated anything coming from this at all tbh i've never really written and finished a big thing  
> i'm sorry it took longer to get this one to you, i wanted to make sure that i got the feel that i wanted out of the chapter, and i'm pretty satisfied, i think.
> 
> if you are interested in more stories i'm writing a kind of partner piece of one-shots that take place in the same universe and you can find that here http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/918966/
> 
> thank you all so much for reading and the kudos!  
> ~Win


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